Background
Bill Brandt (born Hermann Wilhelm Brandt) was born on May 2, 1904 Hamburg, Germany. He was the son of a British father and German mother, Brandt grew up during World War I, during which his father, who had lived in Germany since the age of five, was interned for six months by the Germans as a British citizen. Bill Brandt later disowned his German heritage and would claim he was born in South London.