The first prisoners were sent home in 1946, and by 1949 most had been repatriated; but not all. Out of nearly half a million prisoners, 24,000 elected to stay in Britain. The most famous of these was former Luftwaffe paratrooper Bernhard “Bert” Trautmann. He went on to become goalkeeper for Manchester City, playing in 545 matches for the club between 1949 and 1964. In 2004, Trautmann was awarded an honorary OBE for his promotion through football of Anglo-German understanding.
THE REAL “LITTLE MANFRED” WAS DONATED to the Imperial War Museum by Mr Francis Duke in 2005. During the 1940s, Mr Duke lived with his family on Wested Farm at Crockenhill, near Swanley in Kent, where his father, Fred, was farm secretary. The 600-acre farm employed a large labour force, including German prisoners of war. One of them made the wooden Dachshund dog out of cast-off apple boxes, and also a toy bear, for Francis and his brothers and sister. Mr Duke also donated to the museum a letter written in November 1948 by one of the former German prisoners, Walter Klemenz, whose home was in the Soviet occupation zone. In Mr Duke’s words, Little Manfred and Walter’s letter both give: “...some insight into how post-war Britain, or this small part of it, related to its involuntary guest-workers and how, in difficult and abnormal circumstances, they were able to integrate into the community.”
Extra Time
by
Michael Foreman
The World Cup
1966
I was there! At Wembley Stadium when England won the World Cup! I had tickets for every England match and many of the other fixtures in the lead up to the Final.
England were not really fancied. The manager, Alf Ramsey, a studious defender in his playing days, favoured hard work and organisation over flair and flamboyance. His England team with their 4-4-2 formation became known as the “Wingless Wonders”.
High drama came early. A few weeks before the start of the tournament the World Cup (the Jules Rimet Trophy) itself was stolen from the “Sporting Stamps” exhibition in Westminster Central Hall. The £30,000 solid gold trophy was stolen but stamps worth £3m were left behind. Brazil, the current holders, said it was a sacrilege that would never have been committed in Brazil, where even its criminals loved football too much to do such a thing.The Trophy was found seven days later, wrapped in newspaper and hidden under a bush in south-east London, by a dog called Pickles.
Group games were spread around grounds up and down the country. The world’s best player, Pele, was literally kicked out of the tournament early by tough tackling by Bulgaria in Liverpool. North Korea were the big surprise, sending Italy home early to an airport reception of rotten tomatoes.
England started slowly with a 0-0 draw against Uruguay at Wembley, but then beat Mexico 2-0 and France 2-0 to reach the Quarter Finals. England then beat Argentina 1-0 in a brutal contest. Argentina’s captain, Rattin, was sent off. Ramsey didn’t allow his players to exchange shirts at the end of the game, labelling the Argentineans ‘animals’. England beat Portugal 2-1 in a thrilling Semi-Final and the stage was set for the Final showdown – England v West Germany.
Germany scored first, but Geoff Hurst headed in the equaliser from a free kick by his club mate and England Captain, Bobby Moore. England went ahead in a second half of sunshine and rain, when Martin Peters, the third West Ham player in the team, drove the ball home.
Two minutes to go to the final whistle… I remember the tension, craning forward, waiting for the moment of victory – then the Germans equalised! Extra time… Then the drama of England’s next goal – was it over the line or not? The debate continues still.
And then the famous “some people think it’s all over… It is NOW!” as Geoff Hurst’s thunderous volley completed the victory. Then the triumphal circuit of the pitch, and the iconic image of fierce-tackling Nobby Stiles jigging about like a schoolboy, holding the trophy aloft.
My mate, Paul Read, was with me at all those games long ago, and he lives to this day on the cliff top at Kessingland. You can see his house in my drawings of Kessingland Beach in this book.
Paul was with me in the huge crowd outside the England team hotel in Knightsbridge, London on the evening of the victory. Pickles had been invited to the celebrations, and was allowed to lick the plates after the victory banquet.
The Jules Rimet trophy
Only 14 inches high, the trophy depicts the winged figure of Nike, the ancient Greek goddess of Victory. During World War II the trophy was held by the 1938 winners, Italy. Ottorino Barassi, the Italian Vice-President of FIFA, secretly removed the trophy from a Rome bank and hid it in a shoebox under his bed to prevent the Nazis from taking it.
In 1970, when Brazil won the Rimet Trophy for the third time, they were allowed to keep it forever. However, in 1983, it was stolen again – in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil! It has never been recovered. So much for Brazil’s criminals’ great love of the beautiful game…
Michael Foreman
Copyright
First published in hardback in Great Britain by HarperCollins Children’s Books 2011 HarperCollins Children’s Books is a division of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Text copyright © Michael Morpurgo 2011
Illustrations © Michael Foreman 2011
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Source ISBN: 9780007339662
Ebook Edition © JUNE 2011 ISBN: 9780007453184
Version 2.0
Michael Morpurgo and Michael Foreman reserve the right to be identified as the author and illustrator of the work.
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