The ceremony was held in the historic States Building and was attended by local guests and representatives of the Czech Ministry of Defence. Following the death this year of Staff Sergeant Ervín Hoida, Charles Strasser became the last Czechoslovak veteran living on British territory.

Charles Strasser escaped to the United Kingdom on one of the Kindertransports just before the outbreak of the Second World War. He enlisted in 1944 and served as motorcycle dispatch rider during the war. He was involved in both the siege of Dunkirk and the liberation of Czechoslovakia, and subsequently his language skills led him to join General Ečer's team at the Nuremberg Trials, where he helped secure evidence of crimes committed not only in Czechoslovakia but elsewhere in Europe. He ran a successful business with photographic equipment and was also a keen aviator. He only stopped flying at the age of 92.