Holocaust victim

It's all right. I'm not going to bite you."

That was Bill Foxley's response whenever people saw his scars and quietly walked away.

During the Second World War, the young RAF navigator survived one of the most horrific aircraft crashes imaginable. On 16 March 1944, after escaping his burning Wellington bomber, Bill heard a trapped crewmate calling for help.

He turned around and went back into the flames.

He managed to pull the man free, but suffered catastrophic burns in the process. Bill lost an eye, much of his face was destroyed, and he endured 29 reconstructive operations under pioneering surgeon Sir Archibald McIndoe.

Yet those who knew him remembered something far more remarkable than his scars.

Despite everything he had been through, Bill never lost his warmth or his sense of humour. When strangers avoided sitting beside him on the train, he'd simply smile and say, "It's all right. I'm not going to bite you."

He lost an eye. He lost much of his face. But he never lost his kindness.

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The Last Judicial Hanging in The United States

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