Call Sign November 2007 - Page 16 - Dial-a-War Grave… - Courts Uphold Taxi Emission Strategy in London

The October issue of Call Sign ran a poignant article by Dial-a-Cab driver Jon Robinson (E88), who wrote of his drive to Holland in his TX4 with his father and son and their hunt to find two war graves. The first was of his father’s best friend, Cyril Pearce, of the 4^th battalion Somerset Light Infantry who, at the age of just 18, was part of D-Company who were ordered to clear Barchem (Holland) of German soldiers. Private Pearce was killed during the German retreat and buried where he fell on 1 April 1945. Jon also visited a second war grave, this one in the Belgium town of Ypres where his target was the final resting place of his great-grandfather, Lance Corporal Fred Sprules. Fred was part of the London Regiment during WWI and died in action in 1917. Following publication of the article, Call Sign received a letter from Hans Dooren, who runs the Dutch section of the London Vintage Taxi Association. From his home in Holland, he wrote to this magazine: "I read the article by Jon Robinson in Call Sign Online and it gave me goose pimples. I am a war child of Arnhem (at 11-years old) and we lived near the bridge that Jon wrote of. My dad was the GP in the area. There was a battle going on all around us, followed by a 9-month forced evacuation and then years of Nazi occupation. I may say we had it all - as so many others did as well. "Now I am a pensioner, it gives me some time and it all comes back in my memory. So I try each	Dial-a-War Grave…
	The Dutch War Grave of Cyril Pearce year to meet the war veterans and assist in giving them a good time - as my thank you for still being alive after what happened to all of us. We lost everything - but no relatives. I like driving them in my FX4S London cab and they tell me it makes them feel at home!" Hans then made an astonishing offer to any Dial-a-Cab driver, their relatives or friends. If you have lost someone in one of the two wars who died and was buried in Holland and you have never seen their grave, Hans will try to do what he can in finding it and if possible, take a photo to send to you. Hans continued: "If any of your drivers or their relatives want to write to me, they are welcome and I will try and comfort them by (hopefully) finding the information they may have been seeking for many years. I have found graves and sent pictures to relatives in the past. Occasionally I have even sent some moving shots of the environment of the cemetery etc. "The Commonwealth cemeteries are very well looked after. Each year we attend several commemorations by visiting veterans groups such as the Old	Comrades Group of Market Garden and the Anglo-Dutch Bond, who we meet yearly at Venray. John and Margaret Sleep, being veterans (and badly injured at the end of the war) have come back to this area for the last 21 years and now have many good Dutch friends; we still see them as our liberators! John fought from 1940 in Libya, North Africa, as a paratrooper as well as Sicily, Italy, Normandy and into Holland until April 1945. "He says that war is a dirty business, remembering the soldiers who came back tired after days of fighting at Venray, filthy from not washing, unshaved, with lice on their heads, having lost comrades and feeling terrible. Then they met the first freed citizens in the town. A veteran visiting Arnhem who says that he fought at Arnhem will always get a free drink!" If any DaC driver or their family would like to take up Hans’ offer of trying to search for war graves at Arnhem, let Call Sign know and we’ll pass the message on. There are no guarantees. As Hans points out, he is a pensioner and perhaps not as quick as he used to be, but will be happy to try to help you. If any driver wants to make a donation to the London Taxi Benevolent Association for War Disabled, we will be happy to pass that over to the charity’s secretary, DaC’s Janet Fox (G35)…

Courts Uphold Taxi Emission Strategy in London

The London Cab Drivers’ Club (LCDC) has for some time been undermining the Mayor’s Taxi Emission Strategy as implemented by the Public Carriage Office (PCO), by promoting adverse press coverage of it. Stories have included claims that "the systems do not work" and that they "will take on everyone and anyone and that includes the Mayor, TfL and the PCO."
   On Friday 28 September 2007, the Royal Courts of Justice for a second time, rejected calls by the LCDC for a Judicial Review of the PCO’s implementation of the taxi emission strategy.
   His Honour Judge Mole, having considered all of the available evidence in detail, ruled that the request from the London Cab Drivers’ Club was "doomed to failure." He also commented that the PCO implementation of the emission strategy was entirely reasonable. This hearing took place after Mr Justice Wyn Williams had already refused a previous LCDC request for a Judicial Review in May this year.
   The PCO is satisfied that the integrity of the extensive and controlled testing carried out by the Energy Saving Trust on its behalf, resulted in the development and approval of emission reduction systems that fulfil the requirements of this strategy.
   The PCO remains committed to the Mayor’s emission strategy, which seeks to improve air quality for the benefit of everyone in London, not least working taxi drivers. The PCO is also confident that all the approved emission reduction technologies are fit for purpose and will deliver the required standards provided they are fitted in accordance with the manufacturers’ specifications to properly prepared and maintained vehicles.

Dave Stock
PCO Head of Service Delivery
The LCDC have appealed against the decision and have requested a further High Court hearing.

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