Incredible story of the Shropshire sisters who fell in love with secret assassins
Shropshire sisters Lorna and Edna Ellison they could not know that the soldiers they had befriended from a nearby camp were to become assassins hand-picked for one of the most daring missions of the Second World War.
Czechoslovak patriots Josef Gabcik and Jan Kubis were destined to embark on a top secret mission to kill one of Hitler's key right hand men, Nazi SS General Reinhard Heydrich, the brutal Nazi "protector" of Czechoslovakia and an architect of the Holocaust.
And now a blockbuster movie, Anthropoid, being launched in Britain on Friday is to tell the story of their heroic and ultimately tragic exploits.
The Shropshire back-story has led an author and historian to campaign for some sort of memorial plaque in honour of the heroic pair in the village of Ightfield, near Whitchurch.
John Martin researched Operation Anthropoid, as the mission was called, for a book, including that close friendship that developed between two soldiers far from home and the two young sisters in the village.
"My campaign for a historical plaque in Ightfield has so far been unsuccessful but I certainly haven't given up hope," said John.
"The new movie, called Anthropoid, tells the story of these two brave soldiers and their heroic mission. I have had a small input, both in supplying historical information and even being invited to be an extra. It was filmed in Prague."
The movie stars Cillian Murphy as Gabcik, and Jamie Dornan as Kubis. The Shropshire sisters and their role do not feature, but author John appears in the credits as "Man at Assassination".
