06/06/2014 Midlands Today

The Midlands remembers ` a special service at the National

Memorial Arboretum for the 70th anniversary of the D`day landings.

We'll hear from veterans who changed the course of the second world war.

We had no sense of liberating Europe or anything else.

A plea for a change to the way 999 calls are handldd,

from the family of a 6 month old who died starved of oxygen

Cainan didn't get the chance to survive.

Frustrated fans fear the worse, Hereford United still waiting to

out if they've been kicked out of the Conference.

to Hollywood, the couple whose traditional craft

And there's a storm brewing this weekend ` with heavy rain and

thunderstorms tomorrow ` but Sunday is looking much more appealhng.

Your full weekend forecast is coming up later.

70 years after the D`Day landings in Normandy, tributes have been paid

across the Midlands to the len who changed the course of World War two.

For those who couldn't make it to France, a ceremony was held

at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.

As Ben Godfrey reports, hundreds came to remember

Reverend Dick Sargent was jtst 9 when he reached Utah beach

The Stafford clergyman led 200 men, battling waves

and machine gunfire during those historic first landings.

The water was shallow, we shouldn't have been therd,

we were on the wrong beach, we'd missed it by a mile.

And I spent about half an hour in the water, shouldering

the boats off the sandbanks so they could put the soldiers down.

It sounds mundane, but it was the job.

Hundreds stood in silence at the Normandy Veterans Melorial,

honouring those who paid the ultimate price.

We had no sense of liberating Europe or he rose or anything else, we just

Among those paying respects, a former Royal Marine, born on D`Day.

Yeah, I was born on the 6th of the 6th, 1944 at 6 o'clock.

I remember my sister telling me that mx mother

had been interviewed about ly birth because of the specific timd.

Earlier this week, D`Day veterans from across the West Midlands

Besides which, it will be the last trip.

It will be more poignant, that's all.

It's a privilege to go back and remember our old comrades, xou know.

90`year`old Geoff Russon from Cradley Heath remembers landing

on Juno beach vividly, servhng with the Royal Army Service Corps.

When we went over, you becale a man, in every aspect of the word,

because, what you saw, you couldn't believe.

Today has also been about sxmbols, and this is one of them.

This is a pennant that was `ttached to the first landing craft to arrive

This commemoration may be the last for many but it was also

For one generation to inspire the next.

Ben Godfrey, BBC Midlands Today at the National Memorial Arboretum.

In Coventry, a film which w`s the culmination of months of work

between local schoolchildren and Normandy veterans was shown during

It's hoped this will keep the memory of what happened during World War

Exactly 70 years after he l`nded on a Normandy beach Dennis Davison

paused to think of fallen comrades today, btt he was

There's only a few of us left, and who is going to carry on

The younger generation, at Coventry Cathedral to sed the

It's a film made by school pupils and veterans working togethdr,

commemorating D`Day but chalpioning peace through unity.

It was a great bunch of lads, though.

My life was in his hands, and he had that chance to khll me,

Ninety students took part in this project, working with a tot`l of 40

veterans, six of them specifically survivors of the Normandy bdaches.

The students have so much respect for the vetdrans,

and it is amazing to see thdm listen so intently to their stories,

I tried not to cry, because I thought it was really emotional time

to hear their stories, and it has made me have another

Just didn't realise that those people have been doing good for us

and fighting the war for us and risking their lives for everyone.

And in the grounds of the cathedral destroyed by war,

the day ended with a peace picnic, a chance to share some memories

Earlier I spoke to Ken Reynolds from Hednesford who has travelled

Ken served with the Royal Artillery and arrived on Sword Beach, a couple

I spoke to him a little earlier amid loud music, before

the band struck up, he told me how he found today's 70th annivdrsary.

Can you just give me an ide`, Ken, of your role in the D Day l`ndings?

I understand that you were on Sword Beach.

Yeah, but I was in charge of the rear party so I had to catch

And what did you find when you got there?

Everybody doing everything but nobody knowing quite wh`t was

Then we got the goods together then and put some good barrages down

And you can see highlights from the commemorations in France

in a special programme on BBC 2 at 8.00pm tonight.

You're watching Midlands Today, good to have you with us,

Coping without Hollie, how setting up a charitable trust

has helped the family of thd murdered Gloucester hairdresser

A six`month`old baby died and a second almost lost

his life within two months of each other, after 999 calls were not

West Midlands Ambulance Service assessed them as red 2 `

which means that an ambulance isn't automatically

Our health Correspondent, Michele Paduano, reports.

Cainan was just six`months`old when he developed breathing diffhculties.

An ambulance was two minutes away in Wolverhampton,

But it was not classed as the most urgent case.

It was registered as a Red 2 and a paramedic car,

We lost him, we feel, because of a catalogue errors .

He didn't get the chance to survive, Cainan didn't get

West Midlands Ambulance Service changed

its advice to call handlers within weeks of his death in Octobdr,

2012 so that babies breathing abnormally are sent an ambulance.

We would not want this to h`ppen again unnecessarily, and thd word

unnecessarily is key, because we have to live with the questhon,

But it did happen again ` two months later.

Thomas Passant who is now ndarly two was having breathing diffictlties

He too was classed as red 2 and sent a paramedic in a c`r.

It then took 41 minutes to get an ambulance to him.

Thomas suffered an arrest in the ambulance and almost died.

He wasn't breathing, he was hardly breathing, he was fighting for

You know, there is no doubt about it, that

Our grandson was laying on the floor fighting for hhs life.

Paul Passant campaigned for more ambulances in Shropshire,

but he was never told that an ambulance was available `t the

time of their call and could have got Thomas to hospital much sooner.

The damage could have been irreparable.

It was horrendous for all of the family watching a six`wdek`old

West Midlands Ambulance Service said that

Though in the case of Thomas, it accepts that the investigathon was

poor and there was no clear reason why an ambulance wasn't sent.

West Midlands Ambulance Service has apologised to Paul Passant

for overlooking the fact th`t there was an Ambulance available

As soon as it was confirmed, the Chief Executive Anthony Marsh

They said insufficient time was given for the original

investigation, because they are more concerned about getting mord and

New guidance on babies with breathing difficulties have been

brought in making them top priority, Michele Paduano, BBC Midland today.

There's been chaos on a number of roads in the Midlands today.

The M6 was shut southbound at junction 4a for most of the day,

A man died following a crash on the A5 at Shrewsbury,

and a second multiple vehicle crash nearby caused long traffic jams

Some people have been stuck for more than seven hours.

This was seen on the a five shortly afterwards police followed that

car. It crashed into a lamp post killing the 20`year`old driver and

his 19`year`old passenger is seriously ill tonight in hospital.

Several hours later there w`s that second accident, which was between

Preston Island and the' 54. Several vehicles involved, several people

injured, including a three`xear`old child. This has caused chaos

throughout the day. Major ddlays, roads at a standstill. Several

people told me they had important exams on today, and several people

didn't make a dent. Were thdre any help available? Yes, there was some

help available. The police were out, the police helicopter monitoring

traffic, and also the high which it agency tried to move part of the

central reservation on the @5. They are asking motorists to try to avoid

the area if at all possible. And for the latest on

the travel situation in and around Shrewsbury, there'll be regtlar

updates on BBC Radio Shropshire The ex`boyfriend

of a hairdresser has pleaded guilty to stabbing her as she workdd

in a salon in Gloucester. Asher Maslin murdered 20`ye`r`old

Hollie Gazzard in February. Hollie's father told

our reporter Steve Knibbs that setting up a charitable trust

in her memory has helped thdm cope. She was very small in stature, but

what she lacked in height she made She always lit the room up

and people said her smile w`s everything about her, and obviously

being a hairdresser, you have seen the pictures of her, her hahr is

never the same in any two phctures. The words to describe his d`ughter

come easily to Nick Gazzard and since her death, Hollie's

personality has also touched, It astonished us, really ,

in terms of the amount of people that have come forward

and said we knew Hollie, we had been in contact with her

she was such a fun`loving ghrl, she Hollie's family are determined that

she will live on not just for them, The trust now set up in her name

has already raised nearly ?40,0 0. It will pay to train aspiring

hairdressers to also follow Hollie's A massive tragedy,

what happened to Holly. For us, for her friends,

and the rest of her family. But we can focus

on something positive. And we wanted the trust to be

something positive that camd out Money will also go to local

charities that worked to trx The first one being domestic abuse

and we are supporting others and we are hopefully going to create a

program to go into schools, to talk to people about domestic abtse and

also with Increasing Peace, which is a project on antisocial beh`viour

in Gloucester and trying to move youngsters away from knife crime

and gun crime, really, so those two things are really positive things

for us and the community. Hollie's family now all wear

rings inset with her ashes. It is their way of carrying

her with them all the time. From the pain and tragedy

of Hollie's death, her family now hope much will be

done in her name to change It's 14 minutes past seven,

this is our top story tonight: The Midlands remembers `

a special service at the National Memorial Arboretum for the 70th

anniversary of the D`day landings. Your detailed weather forec`st

to come shortly from Rebecc`. Fifty years on,

survivors from a train crash involving 230 schoolchildren look

back at a remarkable recovery. And spinning a yarn,

the Staffordshire couple who played Hereford United have been ghven one

last chance to save their place The club have been given

until tomorrow morning to p`y their football creditors

including the player's wages. Well,

Ian Winter is at their ground now. This must be a relief to thd fans,

Ian. If a lot of very worried faces in

Hereford today. People who care passionately about their football

club. People who fear that their club would be kicked out of the

conference this afternoon. H want to be watching them in the futtre in

the conference or in the Football League. It almost feels likd a death

in the family. We just don't know what is happening. I don't know We

are waiting for some news. Hopefully it will be good news, but at the

moment it is looking very bleak I think they are in intensive care at

the moment. At 6:30am this lorning, news came of that the prefix. Let's

talk to Keith Dodd from the supporters Association. Your

reaction? Absolutely delighted. We need to make sure the owner takes

full advantage of this and pays the bill tomorrow. You are thinking now

at the last chance saloon. Definitely we cant mess this one up

now. We have to make sure that bill is paid tomorrow. Martin Watson is

from the supporters trust. How confident are you that the new

owners will deliver the ?140,00 needed by tomorrow morning? This

really is the last chance now. It was supposed to be paid yesterday.

10am tomorrow, if we haven't played it, we have to pay it. Can xou even

contemplate what the possibhlity of relegation would mean for this club?

We are more than ?19 in debt. It doesn't bear thinking about. OK

thank you. A couple of months ago, Hereford United survived on goal

difference only. Tonight's battle for survival could be just `s close

and we could also go right to the wire. Back to you.

At the end of a week in which the Government proposdd

a new generation of garden cities, the National Trust has raisdd

the possibility of one being built in the Black Country, which could

possibly be called 'Albion'. A Staffordshire MP and Government

minister has told the BBC the top priority for future housing

developments should be to use 'brown field sites.

Nel Mac I think the point about the garden cities is that it is making

development where local people want it. People in Staffordshire are very

clear that when we got brown field sites, we need housing, we have

villages where housing is ndeded. Local communities make the decision

where that housing should bd. field sites.

And the Sunday Politics will also have a special report on proposals

for Shropshire Fire and Rescue to share control room services with

neighbouring brigades. That's on BBC One from 11.00am

on Sunday. The Second Battalion,

the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers have marched through

Warwick today, as they recehved It was probably the last tile

the soldiers will be on par`de there, as the battalion is due to be

disbanded in August, as part of A hero's welcome for The troops

in Warwick today. Warwickshire County Council has

awarded the freedom of the county to The Royal Regiment of Fusilhers

And, as a show pf thanks, the 2nd Battalion took part

in a special parade. Looking on was 91`year`old

Jean Waldrop, whose grandson was part of the landing.

So difficult because they all look so much alike, but he told

us that he had a sword, and we looked out for him and saw him.

And captain Robert King also has a family connection to the regiment.

My grandfather served in The Royal Regiment on D`Day,

this day 70 years ago, where he won the military Cross

and also my father, who was here watching the 2nd Battalion, between

1969 and 1988, so for me to then carry that tradition on is `mazing.

The County Council says it hs keen to capitalise on tradition

and the regiment's strong rdlation with Warwickshire.

They are part of our DNA, wd are a strong recruiting area for them.

And we felt we wanted that commitment to be exposed

and nationally exposed. It is really important for ts that

the Fusiliers are welcomed `s part of the family of Warwickshire.

It seemed the spectators couldn't agrde more.

It is really worthwhile. It gives them a big opportunity to

show everybody what they can do He could be the future, couldn't he?

He could be one of the future soldiers here, and it is

very good to show how proud we are of our actual citizens and how well

they have looked after country. I think we are very lucky

to have such people. This parade holds additional

significance because it will be one of the last

ceremonial occasions by the troops from the 2nd Battalion as the merger

with the 1st Battalion in Atgust. A salute for the Duke of Kent,

an historic day for the reghment. Amy Cole, BBC Midlands Todax,

Warwick. It's been a poignant day

for a Staffordshire town, as people turned out to mark

the fiftieth anniversary of a train Two children and a rail worker died,

whilst others lost limbs on the so called Lollipop Express, which

was taking them on a day trhp. Joanne Writtle joined peopld in

Stafford, including a crash survivor When dad arrived at

the hospital that day, therd was a Mary Tiernan, aged nine,

one of 230 children who set off from Stafford, but never re`ched

their destination in York. The train, known as the Lollipop

Express, derailed in Cheshire. I was in a coma for three months,

and I had a blood clot on the brain. I had burns to my legs, scalds,

burns. Mary's parents travelled dahly to

Manchester to visit her in hospital. When I woke up, I was surrotnded by

doctors, and then I saw my dad and Mary spent nine months

learning to walk. Today, he joined her and thd rest

of her family at a service to mark Mary and Liam Heffernan,

now in their eighties, lost their daughter, Christhne

Heffernan and Louis Heffern`n died One that even 50 years afterwards,

you don't forget where you were or At Saint Austin's school,

rose bushes were planted. The shadow the crash cast over

Stafford is still evident h`lf a century on, with the incrddible

support this commemoration has had. John Gibson lost his arm,

but embraced his life. I can never really remember being

that upset about it, to be honest, because I was always too busy

trying to get on with my life when I I could still ride a bike,

I could still play rugby, Survivors and family have got

on with their lives for the last 50 years,

but today was a day to remelber It seems

like another life time away to us. And you can read more the

Lollipop Express on the bbc news A couple from Staffordshire who ve

taught themselves to make sheepskins and yarn, using wool from r`re

breeds of sheep, have caught The makers of a new Walt Disney

blockbuster starring Angelina Jolie contacted David and Karen Griffiths

` asking them to help creatd sets Nine years ago,

David and Karen Griffiths knew nothing about the woollen industry,

but a personal tragedy led to them reviving a traditional

and once common crafting skhlls We lost my oldest son from

my first marriage in a car crash nine years ago and decided `t that

time to get out of the rat race and The couple make fleeces using bolt

from the UK's 60 rare It is a craft that has declhned

considerably in recent years, one that has brought Hollywood film

makers to their smallholding. It is in the story of sleephng

beauty, starring Angelina Jolie It was made at Pinewood Studios and its

producers asked David and c`rrying to supply 36 places to addrdss some

of the main sets. It is not everyday that you expect a little back garden

business to end up being involved with Disney. One of the reasons the

film`makers got in touch was that they wanted traditional fledces from

rare breeds here. If they h`d gone for the modern fleeces that we are

used to, it simply would not have had the same dramatic effect. In her

workshop, Karen spends her time preparing the will customers from as

far afield as America and Atstralia. She has become passionate about a

cottage industry which she fears has been in danger of dying in this

country. Back in the 40s and the 50s, women's magazines, thex had

come to data patterns, people were passionate about knitting. We seem

to have lost, to a certain degree, that crafting ability. The film has

just been released in the chnemas, and of course David and Kardn have

been examining the sets cre`ted for this fantasy world, with

particularly keen eyes. Tomorrow certainly isn't gohng to be

the best weather to be out `nd about ` but the weekend isn't going

to be a total washout. And it's certainly been

a nice day today. Our temperatures haven't done too

badly either ` up to 22 celcius in Hereford and still plentx

of sunshine to enjoy this evening. We're under warmer air too so it's

feeling rather pleasant out there. We have had some cloud

around today ` particularly earlier on ` but plenty of clear spdlls

through the afternoon and more to come over the next few hours ` with

that warmer air over us temperatures A few showers working their way

up from the south during thd early hours, and it'll be a sticky

night with lows of 13`16 celcius. Tomorrow is a different picture `

we have a Met Office Yellow weather warning in place for heavy rain `

we could see 25 mm of rainf`ll within an hour ` with some

localised flooding possible as heavy Those showers with us

from the morning some heavy bursts in there, hail, thunder

and blustery around them too. They will start to clear aw`y

during the afternoon ` still The air

behind those showers is a lhttle fresher ` but the sun is sthll

strong and later in the day those temperatures will start to rise up

to 21 celcius ` possibly higher Once the showers clear away some

sunny spells to enjoy to end the day and clear spells to come ovdrnight `

it'll be a slightly fresher night than we're seeing tonight ` with

lows between 11 and 13 celchus. looking much better on

Sunday ` we're still in the grip of high pressure `

but sunny spells and the odd shower Good news if you're heading

off to the Cosford Airshow ` there will be some cloud about

but not a bad day with tempdratures And it's a very similar

picture into next week ` So once we get through tomorrow `

it's looking much better. D`Day remembered `

world leaders have paid tribute to the men who changed the course

of the Second World War.