06/06/2014 Look East - East

And the remarkable story of the pacifist who served

Determined not to fight but determined to help.

Two men appear in court accused of perverting the course

of justice over the death of a worker on a farm.

And expansion plans at Southend Airport.

The target, five million passengers a year, by the end of the ddcade.

70 years ago today the Allied invasion of Europe began

Special events have been taking place across the region tod`y to

70 years ago today the Allidd invasion of Europe began

by landing thousands of soldiers on the beaches of Normandy.

It's probably the last time a major anniversary is marked by

so many veterans with most of them now in their 90s.Thd

The former head of the army was the guest of honour as was 89`year`old

guest of honour as was 89`ydar`old Lynn man, who landed on the beach at

face macro on D`Day. He saw heavy fighting inland. We made our way to

ramble, near Pegasus Bridge, and it wasn't very nice there, because

snipers were having a go at us. German fighter planes were coming

down, shales were dropping and we down, shales were dropping and we

got through that. A tremendous day, that huge armada, 5000 ships, the

aircraft, landing on the beaches. aircraft, landing on the be`ches. It

was a success but what if it hadn't been? What would Europe look like

today? We have great gratitude in our hearts. It has been a btsy few

days for 16 air assault Brigade based in Colchester. They h`ve been

at a drop zone for paratroopers on D`Day and was the first French

village to the liberated. 200 paratroopers from the brigade were

among 300 men from Britain, France and Canada and the US, who tsed the

same crop tribute to the paratroopers who

fought in Normandy. I am sc`red enough in the, checking my

equipment, but they had to do that, they also had to fight on the

ground. They are truly bravd men and I thank them for their service.

I thank them for their servhce. The Prince of Wales watched the drop. He

wanted to be in France to p`y his own tribute to the D`Day veterans.

It is a very special moment, just to salute them and thank them, the ones

who survived, how they did, when you think of the

everything flying around, terrifying. But the fact thdy did,

it's remarkable. Back at the D`Day service in the original school

children were involved. They knew all about the men who fought and

died on the beaches. The Germans had taken over France and as English

wanted to get France back. What about the young soldiers on D`Day,

what do you think about them now? Parade. They tried their best, and

they sacrificed their lives. It's they sacrificed their lives. It s

nice to remember what they did for our country. Lame man spread the

load of remembrance. `` Land man read the odour of remembrance.

Before allowing bugler played the last post.

More on that later in the programme. We would love to hear your stories

as well. The Chief Executive of Southend

University Hospital says thdy were quick to spot the signs of blood

poisoning on a baby thought to have been infected by a contamin`ted

drip. Basildon Hospital is also monitoring a baby which may have

been infected. Both had been given The baby here is said to be

responding well to treatment. It had been given one batch of feed,

described as" ace of blood poisoning. The test results will

confirm either way. We spotted the signs of infection for this baby and

started treatment pretty quickly, started treatment pretty quhckly,

with the appropriate antibiotics. As we would do with any infection that

a young baby contracts. An intravenous fluid is given to babies

who can't take milk. It was made here by an independent comp`ny and

sent to hospitals across thd country. Basildon Hospital `lso has

a baby that are shown symptoms of blood poisoning. It has been given

antibiotics, although a blood test has since proved negative. Five

hospitals across our region have confirmed cases. The public health

England says as the batch of food expired on June two, the more babies

will have been infected. It is carrying out a full investigation.

Two men have appeared at thd Old Bailey in London to face charges

over the death of a worker on a farm in Suffolk almost three years ago.

They're accused of conspiring to pervert thd course

of justice, during the official investigation into the tragddy.

This case was called at midday at the Old Bailey. The judge w`s told

the Old Bailey. The judge was told that the two defendants werd

that the two defendants were accused of conspiring together to do an act,

namely the production, supply a full supply documents to the health and

safety executive with intent to pervert the course of justice. It is

alleged to have happened sometime between the 18th of December 2011

and the 15th of August 2013. The prosecutor told the judge said both

men were accused of falsifyhng men were accused of falsifying

records given to the H S E when he investigated the death of a man

called John Glass. He worked for an animal feed company. He was found

dead at da Shum on the 19th of December in 2011. The HSC s`id

December in 2011. The HSC said he had launched an enquiry into what

happened and was during that enquiry that the offences were alleged to

have been committed. Mr Finch, who is 66, and Mr Herman, who is from

Halesworth in Suffolk, spokd only once during the hearing to confirm

their names. The defence barrister said they were both on unconditional

bail and the judge agreed that should continue. He

defendants that a provision`l trial date would be set for Febru`ry of

next year and that would take place at the Crown Court in Norwich.

Julian Carr, managing director of study but there says they whll

create much`needed jobs in the area. A new flight of two new destination.

Six new routes are being latnched from Southend airport and p`ssenger

numbers are expected to continue to grow. 5 million is its capacity, we

have just over a million now. The opportunity to really grow is there.

The facilities that are there, we have a very good facility now which

can support a lot more growth. Stowe Bart Ayr has invested ?120 lillion

into the airport and bought it in 2008, since then, passenger numbers

have grown rapidly. Latest figures show that last year, Stanstdd

handled around 18 million passengers, Luton 9.5 million,

Southend had already increased to just under 1 million 460,000 passed

through Norwich. The growth of the airport will create jobs, but

airport will create jobs, btt not everyone is happy. There is ongoing

legal action from scores of people living nearby, worried

airport grows, so will the noise, meaning house prices could all. We

meaning house prices could `ll. We are aware that we live in a densely

completed area and we work closely with the local councils and the

local residents groups to make sure that we mitigate those concdrns The

airport says it is attracting customers for leisure and btsiness,

and is hoping to carry 200,000 travellers on six new routes over

the next year, and is on target to attract 5 million passengers by

2020. An A doctor who washed his feet

in front of a patient at the Princess Alexandra Hospital

in Harlow has been struck off. It was one of a string

of incidents between 2009 and 2011 highlighted by the Medical

Practitioners Tribunal Service. Dr Farzal Haque had claimed

complaints against him Plans to demolish

and move a war memorial in Norwich have been attacked

by councillors and on social media. The memorial is

outside St.Cuthbert?s They want to move

the brass plaques inside But critics say nobody

will be able to see them. It's just if an extent to lhmbo 30

years, but the criticism was not expected. The proposal is move the

brass plaques from the warmdr manorial there, bring them inside

the church porch behind secure glass. The Reverend floated the idea

in the parish magazine. He says it's not about destruction but

preservation and security. They had been several attempts to steal the

metal, the last just weeks `go. I metal, the last just weeks ago. I am

absolutely amazed, our intention has all along been to secure and enhance

the heritage of this brass tone. have been working along with the

British Legion and Heritage Society to ensure these plaques are

safeguarded for the future. Local councillor Bill Cozens had tried to

stir up local debate. He says stir up local debate. He saxs it is

sad that on the anniversary of D`Day, there is talk of demolishing

a war memorial. Every time H a war memorial. Every time I come

out from Norwich through thhs road, I see the plaques the war mdmorial

and the reefs and everything, it is a constant reminder to me to the

people here who sacrificed their lives. For now, this is just a plan,

one which the Church insists will be a fitting tribute to the men of the

area who gave their lives in two world wars.

Still to come, how the codebreakers misled the Germans about whdre the

attack would be. But first the remarkable story

of a man who served on the beaches of Normandy but refused

to fight or even carry a gun. David Briggs had a strong Christian

faith. He was one of 60,000 people

in Britain who refused to fhght ` But as a medic in the army, he chose

to be in the teeth of the battle. Alex Dunlop has been to meet him

at home in Bedford. David Briggs is your quintessential

gentleman. Now 96, the formdr schoolmaster recounts how at 16,

schoolmaster recounts how at 16 he decided he could never go to war. I

said, this isn't right, whatever the answer is, war isn't the answer.

said, this isn't right, whatever the answer is, war isn't the answer I

felt that the enemy wasn't really her killer, the enemy was war

itself. Yet David did go to war as an Army medic. I wanted to save

life, for me the medical corps was the answer. I didn't want to be

thought a coward and to be a coward, it was against the grain with me.

But I must be a part of it. So in June that in 44 with this armband is

only means of defence, David approached the beaches of Normandy.

The first thing I saw was the dead body of a Canadian, lying in the

sea. You were under fire copy had no gun, you must have felt verx

vulnerable. It sounds silly, but the whole thing was so I'm real, in a

way, we didn't have time to think `` unreal. How do you square away that

non`resistance with all the thousands of Christians who went and

bought and died, fighting what they thought was against evil? I find

this very difficult. This is what my friend Frank and I were constantly

talking of. David's best friend Frank was an Army 's soldier, this

wartime letter is from him. I admire your actions immensely though I

don't agree with your views. In a wide sense, of course, I thhnk you

are right. I hate and detest war. He felt that it was right and I felt it

was wrong. There is no bridge between those two convictions,

really. Anyway, I trust we shall soon have an end of the whole

horrible business. And what appealed they will be us to work in.

Tragically, that would never happen. Frank was killed in Normandx

Frank was killed in Normandy in 1944. His faith and his wife Mary

kept David Strong but he won't forget the monkey told his son that

he refused to carry a gun. He took me aside and said, you know what

happens to people who disobdy happens to people who disobey

orders, don't you? And that was the end of the conversation. Wh`t you

think thinking meant by that? To be frank, I thought I would be shot for

not agreeing to carry a gun. Mercifully, that order was

overwritten next day. David received his long service medals but

conscientious objectors werdn't decorated nor could they rise

through the ranks. Young corporal Briggs put himself in harm 's way

but he says, you put his conscience first.

10,000 soldiers were killed on the beaches but it could have bden so

much worse. British intelligence managed to

persuade the Nazis that the invasion could come at Calais

and not in Normandy. But how did the Allies know that

the Germans had taken the b`it? Because Bletchley Park

in Buckinghamshire was decrypting It was in these humble little huts

that the codebreakers of Bldtchley that the codebreakers of Bldtchley

Park decrypted, translated `nd sorted messages. Some of the

information gleaned help st`ff plot the movement of enemy shipping as

well as allied forces in the English Channel in the run`up to D`Day. It

was very exciting, of course, we was very exciting, of course, we

knew about all the Mulberrys row and the bits of harbour, of course the

German E boats, they would be a great deal of trouble to us. There

was a tremendous amount of `ctivity going on. There was so much work

that sometimes you couldn't go home at the end and there was quhte a bit

of pressure. We felt very responsible because we did feel that

if we didn't keep things up`to`date, it could even mean

people being killed. To givd people being killed. To give that

landing on the beaches of Normandy the best possible chance, D`Day

decoy operation had been planned. Double agent codenamed Garbo was one

of a network of spies feeding the Germans force information. That the

invasion would be at Calais. We were intercepting the German translations

and bankrupting them, could see whether they had followed the bait

we had given them. The messages behind this tell us about the fact

that the elaborate decoy was huge in D`Day success,

allowed to British intelligdnce to monitor what was being said so the

lies and false information was being believed. It kept the Germans

sitting in Calais up until August, when we attacked them there. They

were still waiting for the invasion across the sea that never h`ppened.

Such was the secrecy at Bletchley that even when the end came, it was

another 30 years before Jean and her families exactly what they did in

the war. Colbourne is from the Imperial War Museum. We have

the war. Colbourne is from the Imperial War Museum. We havd heard

Imperial War Museum. We have heard a lot about the beaches and the

soldiers on the beaches but this region was important for thd part it

played from airbases. It certainly was. Cases like Duxford, if you

imagine the carpet of airfidlds imagine the carpet of airfields all

around East Anglia, they had a huge role to play in this operation. That

is beforehand in terms of softening up the German air force, ensuring

that when they looked up, it was one of theirs, doing work behind the

beach as well. Duxford's pilots did a lot of work attacking marshalling

yards, targets behind the areas to ensure the Germans couldn't

reinforce those areas. And of course bombing and attacking areas in the

paddock. `` in Calais. I max get paddock. `` in Calais. I max get a

lot of veterans coming to you at the Imperial War Mrs. Today is important

for all of them. It certainly is. It is privilege to meet these guys We

have met veterans from America, from the UK, they are all getting old

now, a lot of people said on the 60s anniversary that it was

last times they would assemble in large numbers but I wouldn't bet

against them being there for the characters they're! They make doing

this job a real pledge. Do xou this job a real pledge. Do you think

we will carry on remembering when those old soldiers are gone or do

you think it will become something as part of history and we

market in the way we have done today? I hope that doesn't happen, I

hope we do continue to remember it, if you think of our region

particularly, the legacy these guys left behind, those historic

airfields, all around, the memorials to their sacrifice. All of these

places, D`Day marks a huge turning point in the war. This country is

still very interested in the Second World War, and I genuinely see that

continuing. Thank you. You've probably heard

of or seen the 1952 film Singin? In The Rain ` an Amdrican

musical comedy starring Gene Kelly, It's the story of showbiz Hollywood

in the 1920s, when silent movies finally found their voice. A film

often described as one of the best ever musicals. Now Singin' In

ever musicals. Now Singin' Hn The Rain has been brought to thd Theatre

Royal in Norwich, more than 60 years after the film came out. They have

been many productions of Singin particular, I feel, the production

values are so high, to look at. It has everything from

the film plus a couple of extra songs that weren't in

originally. The show has kept the comedy, the glamour and recreated

Gene Kelly's iconic song and dance scene and the man who has to fill

his shoes is James Lisa. unique situation, I have never

danced in the rain before, to wonderful. It's from Reeva most

physically challenging show I have done. They have a special stage they

have brought in. Underneath is a tank full of water, the writers up

and can drain off, because it's not just a shower but 12,000 litres of

water they will be dancing in. We have three water tanks in total

feel to it for times before it goes on stage and gets to the cast. To be

nice to be cast months, we do hate the rain to 30

degrees. `` hate the rain. This is what he has to perform in, and when

he is dancing and singing in the rain, if you are in the front few

rows, you're guaranteed to Just time for some of your stories

about D`Day. A nice one frol Douglas Smith called near Lowestoft, he flew

a Halifax in the days during the run`up to D`Day to soften up the

German positions, he says, there are not many of us left. Brian from the

Chelmsford regimental Association wants us to mention Albert Wilson

who was 90 in March and topped capture Pegasus Bridge. And he not

from Rosemary who says, my dad Frederik Piper was in the Royal Navy

during World War II, transferring soldiers from the ships

to the beach and the family filmed him back there. He has now sadly

died but she says, I only realised today the first time what

special film we have which we can show our grandchildren. Thank you to

everybody. Time for the weather Lots of sunshine across the region,

that heat and humidity will eventually bring thunderstorms as we

head into tomorrow. It doesn't even out there, lots of sunshine to end

the day, and try initially. Later, the risk of some storms coming up.

Further east, staying dry at least at this stage. As you can see, quite

a mucky night. But tomorrow, it's all about this one, humid ahr

up from Spain and France, interacting with this cold front. It

will bring * of some thunderstorms. It looks like we will see some

storms across the morning, then the region focuses to the West. The Met

office have a yellow warning out for that for the risk of some severe

thunderstorms. The potential for some large hail and gusty whnds

Through the course of tomorrow, we will see areas of thunderstorms

working their way northwards. Some uncertainty as to how far e`st they

will tend to be. They will clear northwards, there will be a dry

spell late morning with a spell of hazy sunshine and then the real risk

of some nasty through the afternoon and into the

evening. some large hail and gusty winds.

Temperatures will be variable, getting up to maybe 25 degrdes.

getting up to maybe 25 degrees. Where you are underneath those

storms, they could be lower and cooler along the coast. Into

tomorrow, the showers and storms clear, a fine end to the day.

clear, a fine end to the dax. Then things to quieten down for Sunday.

Much of the day will be dry the bulk of the region, the risk of

one or two showers. Has begun through Sunday night into Monday,

more thundery weather across the region, particularly the East. A lot

of uncertainty about the timing of it. The outlook doesn't thundery at

times but some dry weather to be had, especially on Sunday. Ht could

linger into Monday night as well. At this stage, Tuesday licking mainly

dry. A word about the Sunday polhtics

this weekend. They may not have done it in you work but the UKIP caused

an earthquake a couple of weeks ago, but many of our town halls they are

having to deal with the fallout. are looking at the inch stick

alliances which have sprung up, but are they good for democracy? And

Charles Clarke tells what hd about UKIP and why it's important

that all politicians The average person moves home

eight times during their life. So that's eight times

we have to move the sofa. Eight times

we have to redecorate. Eight times

we have to locate the stopcock. But there's one thing

that's easy to do when you move - you can switch your TV licence

online.