‘The family (apart from Marie Louise) returned to Belgium in 1946. They stayed with my grandmother’s family, then the council found a small house for them. From that day on, my family were known as ‘les anglais’ (the English), even though they had lived in Belgium before the war! My granddad often spoke of going back to live in England but this never happened.’

Marie Louise Nicholls died in 1941 and was buried in Spital Cemetery, Chesterfield, Derbyshire. Marie hopes that one day she will visit to place flowers on her great-grandmother’s grave.