Tributes have been paid to a British veteran of the Second World War who saved hundreds of Jewish children from the Nazis.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held to open a memorial garden for Sir Nicholas Winton at Princes Park, Golders Green.

Sir Nicholas Winton who died aged 106 in 2015, saved 669 children from Nazi occupied Czechoslovakia in 1939.

Starting in 1938 he began smuggling refugees out of Czechoslovakia in an operation that was to be known as ‘Czech Kindertransport’.

Before the war Sir Winton was a stockbroker, an avid fencer, a private school dropout, ardent socialist and through his early adult life worked in numerous banks in England, France and Germany. His reputation as “Britain’s Schindler”, began in Prague as he found homes for children fleeing the Nazis and arranged for their safe passage to Britain.

Prague at the time was home to most of the 118,000 Jews in the Czech-speaking area of Czechoslovakia and many more were pouring in as they fled from the Nazis.

He was knighted in 2003 for his actions and received numerous honours from the Czech government.

In honour of Sir Nicholas Winton’s memory, the Mayor of Barnet and Councillor Cohen were joined by pupils from Menorah Primary School and Wessex Gardens Primary School.

The Mayor of Barnet, Councillor Brian Salinger, said, “We are delighted to honour the extraordinary life and achievements of the late Sir Nicholas Winton. It is particularly fitting as we have a large number of children from the Jewish community living in Barnet who can be inspired by this man’s great heroism.”

Councillor Dean Cohen, said “Sir Nicholas Winton was a man of extreme courage who displayed immense bravery during the Second World War, saving hundreds of Jewish children.

I am proud that the legacy of such an incredible humanitarian has been marked in this special way.”