Hundreds gathered at Norfolk Heritage Park on Saturday to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the D-Day landings. Veterans from Sheffield were joined for the Drumhead Service of Remembrance by others from France and the Commonwealth. The event was also marked with a fly past by a Lancaster Bomber. Veteran Roy Ashton, who took part in the Italian Campaign, spoke to Sheffield Live! about their role in the success of the Normandy landings. Report by Sangita Basudev.
Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson joined athletes at a launch event for the UK Invictus Games Trials which are set to take place in Sheffield in July. The UK event, a preparation for the international Invictus Games 2019 to be held in The Hague later in the year, will be the first ever national games for Biritish wounded, injured and sick armed services personnel and veterans. The trials will involve up to 500 athletes using the power of sport, teamwork and competition to accelerate their recovery including athletics, wheelchair basketball, powerlifting, swimming and sitting volleyball. Baillor Jalloh reports for Sheffield Live!
A new memorial bench has been unveiled at a service of dedication for men and women from Frecheville who served and lost their lives during the first and second world wars. The service was attended and led by members of the Royal British Legion as well as local councillors, veterans and residents. Baillor Jalloh reports for Sheffield Live!
Four Second World War veterans from Sheffield have been presented with the Légion d’honneur, France’s highest military distinction, in a ceremony at Sheffield Town Hall. The four veterans, in their early 90s and all still living in Sheffield, are Roy Stout, Graham Bell, Donald Walker and George Young .The medal ceremony follows a number of similar events that have taken place around the UK since the 70th anniversary of D-Day in June 2014, when French President François Hollande pledged to honour British veterans who had served in France during the war. France has so far decorated more than 4,300 D-Day veterans across the UK. Simon Thake reports for Sheffield Live!
Project Nova is an initative of ex-Forces charity Walking With The Wounded to support former military personnel who have entered police custody. First launched in East Anglia in 2014, it is delivered in partnership with RFEA, the Forces Employment Charity (RFEA). Project Nova reports that veterans engaged with the programme have a re-offending rate within a year of just 4 per cent, compared to 46 per cent of adults released from prison as a whole.
Hundreds of people gathered in Barkers Pool this morning to remember one of Sheffield’s bravest World War One Veterans. Sergeant Major John Crawshaw Raynes earnt his Victoria Cross one hundred years ago for his bravery and devotion on duty. He went out under heavy shell fire to save his colleagues despite being badly gassed on the11th and injured on the 12th of October 1915. A special plaque and paving stone was unveiled during the service to commemorate Sergeant Raynes bravery, then the Lord Mayor, Master Cutler and children from Heeley School laid wreaths and paid their respects.
The Blind Veterans UK charity are celebrating their one hundredth anniversary with a photography exhibition that’s touring the UK. The exhibition was created to showcase the talents of some of the veterans the charity supports. The veterans could enter work from five different categories. Pieces by the winners and runners are part of the display, which begun here in Sheffield. Kathryn Smiles went along to the exhibition whilst it was at the Winter Gardens to find out more.