Honour for 'Angel of Auschwitz'

Mr Coward is thought to have saved 800 Jews from the gas chambers

A British army officer thought to have saved more than 800 lives at the Nazi death camp Auschwitz has been honoured in an emotional ceremony.

A blue plaque has been unveiled at the house in Chichester Road, Edmonton, north London, where Charles Joseph Coward lived after World War II.

After being wounded and captured at Calais in 1940, Mr Coward tried to escape the Nazis 19 times before being transferred to Auschwitz.

There he risked his life by hiding Jewish inmates, disguising them as corpses to help them escape.

He also smuggled in arms to help an uprising by Polish Jews.

'Emotional and overwhelming'

His daughter Linda Clarke, 55, unveiled the plaque with Enfield mayor Anne Marie Pearce on Wednesday.

She said: "It was very emotional and overwhelming. He was a very quiet man and didn't really talk about it - but he would have loved this. I am so proud."

Described as the "Angel of Auschwitz", Mr Coward was honoured by Israel and his life was turned into a book and later a film starring Dirk Bogarde.

He gave evidence against the Nazis at the Nuremberg trials and is honoured at the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem.

Mr Coward, who lived in Chichester Road from the time he left the Army until his death in 1976, was described as a modest gentleman.

Asked why he had risked his life for others, he simply said he had done nothing special.