Sir Paul L Fox CBE

Paul Leonard Fox was born in Germany to Jewish parents on 27 Oct 1925.  In 1938 he came to Britain as part of the kindertransport initiative.

He volunteered for the Army, initially serving with the Suffolks, before volunteering for airborne forces.

Paul completed Parachute Course 123 in July 1944 and served in the follow-up phase of the Normandy campaign with the 7th Parachute Battalion, as part of Battalion HQ.

He saw further service in the Ardennes in December 1944, before emplaning for Operation Varsity in March 1945, where he was wounded.

Post-war, Paul had a successful career with the BBC, initially as a scriptwriter, and then as an editor on Panorama.  Rising to executive level he came up with the idea of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year, and also commissioned popular shows such as "Dads Army" as Controller.

He was knighted in 1991, and was Chairman of The Disasters Emergency Committee, before retiring in the late 1990s.

Paul Fox passed away on 8 April 2024.