biography
| name: |
Cheshire (of Woodhall), (Geoffrey) Leonard Cheshire, Baron
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1917–92)
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| biography:
| British bomber pilot and philanthropist. He studied at Oxford, and was repeatedly decorated (including the VC, 1944) for his leadership and bravery during World War 2. He was one of the official British observers of the destruction caused by the atomic bomb over Nagasaki (1945). This experience, together with his new-found faith, Catholicism, made him determine to establish co-operative communities for ex-servicemen dedicated to living in peace. His initial venture failed, but he found himself looking after a homeless, cancer-stricken ex-serviceman who urged him to welcome others in a similar situation, and from this grew the Cheshire Homes for the Disabled. In 1959 he married Sue Ryder, and he was created a life peer in 1991. |
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