We are delighted to report that the work of our sister organisation, the WW2 Escape Lines Memorial Society, has been recognised at the highest level with The European Award for Citizenship, Security and Defence. Many congratulations!

The prize is intended to reward outstanding efforts towards promoting European citizenship and security and defence awareness. It was first awarded in 2011, under the patronage of the President of the European Council, and is organised annually by Civisme Défense Armée Nation, together with the European Interparliamentary Security and Defence Association and the support of the Behörden Spiegel newspaper. The award was presented to Roger Stanton, Director of ELMS, on 18th November at the embassy of Estonia in Berlin during the Berlin Security Conference.

Roger said: “It was suggested to me some time ago that ELMS enter for the award but we only received the application form five days before the deadline. To say the least, it was a scramble, trying to condense over forty years of working with helpers, escapers and evaders, into the required ten pages in the time available!”

The “scramble” paid off. In making the award, the jury paid tribute to ELMS’s multiple activities: annual commemorative events, reunions, walking trails (escape line routes), thrice-yearly journals, lectures, research, website, collaboration with other organisations, establishment of three memorials, a museum display and education packs for schools. ELMS also enables UK and EU students and military cadets to participate in commemorative trails and commemorative events in both UK and Europe.

The jury noted that ELMS originated in the 1980s when Roger and ex-military friends undertook a series of challenges to raise money for the Royal Air Forces Escaping Society, which had been formed after the war to assist the helpers who had aided escaping soldiers and air crew to return to England. The experience of such ventures over the next years, together with the contacts made, led to the foundation of ELMS in 1992. A key objective was to maintain contact with helpers, many of whom had suffered at the hands of the Gestapo and concentration camps, and provide support.

Over time, many ELMS members have died but the annual membership remains constant at 250 to 300 and provides good core support for the future.