Paddington Bear, the beloved character from children's literature, was inspired by the author’s memories of child evacuees during World War II, according to his creator Michael Bond.
Mr Bond said the polite bear from "darkest Peru" was based on his childhood recollections. "When I was small, I had memories of children being evacuated from London with a label around their necks and all their possessions in a suitcase, and this became part of Paddington as well," he said. "Paddington Bear was a refugee with a label - 'Please look after this bear. Thank you', and he had a little suitcase."
The author himself experienced wartime danger while working in Reading, when a low-flying German aircraft bombed the building he was on, causing it to collapse. He escaped uninjured.
After the war, Mr Bond worked at the BBC Monitoring service in Caversham, a department staffed largely by refugees. He incorporated this into his books with the character of Mr Gruber, a Hungarian refugee.
Mr Bond later worked as a BBC cameraman in London, filming programmes such as Blue Peter. He began writing the first Paddington book in his spare time, inspired by a small bear he had bought for his wife. He felt the character was more like his civil servant father.
In addition to Paddington, Mr Bond created the children's programme The Herbs. He recently created two podcasts for Reading Museum discussing his inspirations, including his early love of Reading Football Club.
