Blue. Because he wanted to join the Diplomatic Service, his tutor at Cambridge had organised a three-week stay for Tim with a wealthy family in rural Bavaria in his third term (late spring 1939). The German family were very enthusiastic supporters of the Nazi party and when Adolf Hitler visited them one weekend, Tim met him. At that time, Memelland (a small province partitioned from Prussia after the First World War) had just rejoined the Reich, and during lunch Hitler asked, ‘I wonder what the young Englishman would say to England joining the Reich?’. Having been strictly briefed regarding courtesy towards the Führer and not wishing to cause his hosts any undue embarrassment, he replied (in German), ‘As an 18 year old Englishman, I find the question difficult to answer with both honesty and courtesy’. This answer did not entirely reassure either Hitler or his hosts! He returned to Germany in the summer vacation in 1939 and enrolled for a term at Munich University. The clouds of war were gathering and he and his fellow students felt that conflict was inevitable. His fluency in German prompted a challenge from his friends that he could not join the German Army and survive for two weeks undetected. He managed to enlist as one Anton Fischer, born in Munich in May 1920, and survived the first week of basic training, but was then ‘honoured’ to be selected as a volunteer for the SS. He said he did not wish to volunteer and after some interrogation, his cover was blown. Luckily, the commanding officer saw the amusing side of the matter and Tim was simply discharged with ten days’ pay. He headed slowly back to England via Vienna and Budapest and crossed the border into Belgium half an hour after Britain declared war on Germany. When he reached Dover, the newspapers bore the ominous headline ‘England doomed’ but this simply referred to the England cricket team’s prospects in the current Test match! Tim had been financing his own studies at Cambridge but with his funds running out and being unable to take out a loan now the war had started, he tried to enlist but was told he would have to wait to be called up. Reluctantly, he left Cambridge and taught at a prep school for six months until April 1940, when his call-up papers finally arrived and he signed up. After basic training he was commissioned into the Highland Light Infantry (HLI) and then posted to Suffolk to train HLI conscripts. There he met Sheila and they were married in August 1942. In 1943, he was still in the HLI when he was posted to Cairo,
Stanley James Granville Cook (1941-46) 17.04.1928 – 21.01.2012 Stanley Cook came to Dulwich from Clare House School in Beckenham. While at the College, he played rugby and boxed for the school and was also in the shooting team. After leaving Dulwich, he joined the Army and was commissioned in the Royal Engineers, serving in East Africa. He was known as a gentle giant as he was over 6 feet 4 inches tall. At the end of his commission he joined Sanderson Fabrics and was a branch manager in Birmingham. He also joined the Territorial Army in 1948 and was awarded the Territorial Decoration (TD). On the death of his father, he returned to London and joined the Contract division of jewellers, Mappin & Webb. In 1967 he bought a stake in Photo Scan Ltd, which went on to become a very successful multi-million pound security company. He retired in 1994 after 27 very happy years as a company director, which enabled him to travel widely in the Middle East and West Africa. Stanley married Angela Potts in 1959 and they celebrated their Golden Wedding in 2009. They had one daughter, who gave them two grandchildren, of whom he was extremely proud. Major Ashton Timothy (Tim) Fisher (1936-38) 23.05.1920 – 10.03.2011 Tim Fisher was born in London but at the age of four he left for rabies was even less pleasant in the 1920s than it is in the 21st century, and the long, hot needles inserted into his stomach resulted in a life-long, but occasional stammer. At the age of seven, they moved to Switzerland where he spent most of his school years and developed a considerable talent for ice hockey. In 1936, he left the Lycee Jaccard in Lausanne and returned to England to go to Dulwich. After spending most of his childhood abroad, he was not fluent in English when he arrived at Dulwich, but his English language skills improved rapidly because of his natural flair for languages. Sport was his passion and he played rugby and tennis while at the College, also playing tennis in the Public Schools Championship and at Junior Wimbledon. In October 1938, he went to Magdalene College, Cambridge, to read modern languages. He was also able to resume playing ice hockey, playing for Cambridge in his first year and gaining a Half England with his mother to live in Italy for two years. While there he managed to get bitten by a rabid dog and contract rabies. The cure
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