The Duke of Cambridge has unveiled a statue of Major Frank Foley CMG, the 'British Schindler', in Mary Stevens Park, Stourbridge, as part of a wider visit to the West Midlands.

The Duke was welcomed to Mary Steven's Park and escorted by local MP, Ian Austin. His Royal Highness spent around an hour meeting Holocaust survivors and members of Frank Foley's family before unveiling the statue. 

The memorial, which has cost £40,000, has been sculpted by Birmingham-based artist Andy DeComyn and is a life-size replica of Major Foley and depicts him sitting on a park bench dressed in a suit, replicating how he would have looked as a spy in the 1930s.

The Army Reserve Centre in Stourbridge hosted members of a former Intelligence Corps and MI6 officer’s family and descendants of some of the people whom he saved in Nazi Germany. A twelve-foot long wall mural telling the life story of Major Frank Foley CMG, a quarter-scale miniature replica of a statue unveiled in Mary Steven's Park and an Enigma machine, used by Britain’s code breakers to decipher German signals traffic during the Second World War, was also on display at the headquarters of 63 Military Intelligence Company, Swinford Road, Stourbridge.

Foley commanded an infantry company of the 1st Battalion the Hertfordshire Regiment and was later with the 2nd/6th Battalion North Staffordshire Regiment during the First World War, during which time he was mentioned in despatches. He escaped from Germany and, after the First World War, was recruited by the Intelligence Corps.

Foley became known as the ‘British Schindler’ and was officially recognised as a British Hero of the Holocaust.  He was awarded the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George CMG (order of chivalry) in 1941. Major Foley retired to Stourbridge in 1949 and died there in 1958, aged 73. Major Louise Smith, Officer Commanding 63 Military Intelligence Company, said:

“This is a proud day for our Army intelligence unit to be associated with such an incredibly brave officer as Major Foley. The skills that he had to employ to help thousands of people escape Nazi Germany, namely courage, selfless commitment and loyalty, are the same values that our military intelligence officers show today.

"If you think you have these attributes, we would urge you to apply at armyjobs.mod.uk or come down to our Reserve Centre on any Wednesday evening after 7.30pm to find out more.”