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Every November, our thoughts turn to Armistice Day and
Remembrance Sunday as a tribute to those who lost their lives
because of enemy action at home and abroad. This year, the
events on the weekend of 8 – 9 November leading up to the
anniversary date of Tuesday 11 November, are even more pertinent
as it marks the ending of hostilities of WW1 – known forever as
The Great War. It has been estimated that WW1 caused some 40 million casualties, of whom around 20 million died. There were 60 million European soldiers involved in the four years of fighting between 1914 to 1918 at the Western Front, Gallipoli and in the Middle East. The war began on 28 June 1914 when the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assasinated by Bosnian Serb, Gavrilo Princip, Retaliations followed and within a month, much of Europe was in a state of open warfare. Although the Treaty of Versailles, which was signed on 28 June 1919, officially ended the war, the Allied powers have had an armistice with Germany in place since 11 November 1918 – ninety years. Which takes us to November 2008. If you want to trace a relative who died during British conflicts, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission have a dedicated database of 1.7 million people. Go to www.cwgc.org. While the Great War will be remembered more for this year’s poignant anniversary, we must |
On the 90th anniversary of the ending of the Great War… WEAR YOUR POPPY WITH PRIDE |
 never forget World War 2 either. Here are two short memoirs of three civilians who perished during the 1939 – 1945 hostilities. ***At 16.54 on 27th March 1945 at 88 Kynaston Road Orpington, Mrs Ivy Millichamp, 34, was standing in her kitchen putting the kettle on when the last V2 rocket landed nearby demolishing her house. Her husband Eric, who had been in the front room at the time, recovered her body soon afterwards. She is buried locally at All Saints Church and on her headstone it reads: The last person in Britain to be killed by enemy action. ***On the night of 5th May 1942, the enemy returned for another bomb attack on East Cowes on the Isle of Wight. Two auxiliary firemen from Ryde, Leading Fireman Herbert Dewey and FF Colin Weeks were having a tea break provided by the WVS after a number of hours putting out a big fire in Marvin’s yard. They died after the mobile canteen van they were standing next to took a direct hit. Their names are placed on the National fire service memorial at the junction of Carter lane and Peters Hill EC4, along the names of hundreds of their fallen colleagues. Mr Churchill proclaimed the NFS as heroes with dirty faces. At the going down of the sun, and in the morning… we will remember them. Lest we forget, please wear your poppy with pride and support the British Legion… Richard Potter (T51) |
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CALL SIGN PRESENTS ITS ‘COCK-UP’ MONEY! |
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| As we wrote
last month, never in the history of Dial-a-Cab’s in-house
magazine had so many written in about the mag itself – or the
lack of it! At one point there were over 200 emails waiting on
Editor Al’s PC, not to mention the fact that his phone was
burning with subscribers all asking the same question: "Where is
my Call Sign!" We now know that they had all been posted – over 2000 of them - just as they are every month, but on this one month the Post Office advised an incorrect price stamp, with the result that hundreds of DaC drivers had to not only go to their sorting office to collect the mag, but were charged an extra £1 on top of the 24p underpayment! The Post Office did the decent thing and held their hands up. As a result, Call Sign was given £500 compensation – after first being offered a derisory £32, which we refused - and we decided to present it towards The London Taxidrivers Fund for Underprivileged Children’s Xmas party at the Grosvenor House in January. The donation was addressed not as coming from Call Sign but from The Drivers of Dial-a-Cab. Because so many drivers had also called Nuala and Val in Driver Services when the mag failed to arrive, we asked them to present the cheque to David Lessman (D19) who is the LTFUC Chairman. Unfortunately Val was out of the office, but a smiling Nuala presented the cheque. David told us: "This donation is very much appreciated and will be a big help in putting on our |
 Nuala presents David Lessman with a £500 cheque on behalf of the drivers of Diala-Cab |
| yearly party where around 600
children and their carers will have a wonderful day out. So can
I thank all the DaC drivers who refused the option of getting
their £1.24 back when it was explained that the money would come
to the Fund. As a result, we have had the whole £500." Call Sign would like to thank our printers, PJB, who kindly gave us the £500 to save us waiting for the Post Office.
Ron Yarbrough |
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