A heroine of the Bosnian war has written movingly of how the father of her unborn child saved her life.

Sally Becker, from Brighton, is today publishing her memoir, “Sunflowers and Snipers: Saving Children in the Balkan War”.

The book describes how Sally, now 51, rescued 170 children from Bosnia and 80 from Kosovo.

She reveals the father of her daughter, Billie, was Major Bill Foxton, who saved her life when she was shot in Albania while pregnant in 1998.

They could never be a family because he was still married. He last saw his daughter in 2003, when he moved to Afghanistan.

He committed suicide in 2009 after losing everything in financier Bernard Madoff’s £35 billion fraud.

In excerpts in a national newspaper she told how she had kept the truth about her and Major Foxton a secret on his request to protect his family.

She said: “'I have always respected that but when Bill died I realised I had no-one to protect anymore.

“Bill was a brave man with an adventurous spirit who always lived on the edge.”

Sally started her humanitarian mission in May 1993 and became known as the Angel of Mostar.

She was one of nine people to be selected to carry the Olympic flag at the opening ceremony of London 2012 .

She walked out at the stadium with Mohammed Ali and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon.

She told The Argus: “It didn’t take very long but those few minutes were amongst the greatest moments of my life.”

Sally has been recognised with awards including the Ross McWhirter Award for Bravery and The Variety Club Award and is a goodwill ambassador for charity Children of Peace.

Published by The History Press, the book is available in hardback with a recommended retail price of £18.99.