English Heroes #9

An occasional series recording Englishmen, women and children who have done great things for themselves or others and reflected well on the country of their birth.

Step forward Private Daniel Hellings (19) from Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, of the Mercian Regiment.

Telegraph.

He was on patrol with Afghan soldiers in Helmand, southern Afghanistan, on September 7 last year when a bomb went off in the 10ft-wide alleyway in a village near their base.

Two troops were injured in the initial blast, one blinded and the second with severe leg wounds, and a third was wounded when he triggered another bomb just yards from Pte Hellings.

Pte Hellings was ordered to withdraw from the alley by his commander but the young soldier realised there was no time to find an alternative route to recover the casualties and volunteered to return to the task.

With his metal detector rendered all but useless because so much metallic debris lay on the ground, he carried out an hour-long fingertip search for further IEDs. 

One hidden bomb he found had wires stretching the width of the alley, which would normally have prevented him going any further. But Pte Hellings knew that his injured comrades would almost certainly die if he waited for a bomb disposal team.

He disregarded the danger to himself and continued clearing the ground around the IEDs so he could reach the three casualties, giving them life-saving first aid and helping to evacuate them.

Pte Hellings, from Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, of the Mercian Regiment, was awarded the Queen's Gallantry Medal.

His citation said he "demonstrated a level of courage and ability far beyond that which could be expected of his age, rank and experience".

 A brave man and an example to those who put down the youth of today as being feckless wasters.
Daniel Hellings this blog salutes you, this country needs more fine people like you who are prepared to put your life on the line for your friends and country, you are a true Englishman.

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A good day to be an Englishman #6

Considering our utter failure in the football I as an Englishman have had to look far and wide in our wonderful land to find a "sporting" hero worthy of praise.

Step forward Dean Gould 45 of Felixstowe, Suffolk holder of the world record in beer mat flipping.

Telegraph.

Dean Gould 45, flipped and caught 35 beer mats with two fingers whilst blindfolded - more than doubling the previous best of 16.

He also set a new 'speed flipping' record with 800 successful flips in just 41.06 seconds. 

The third record involved catching 108 mats after dropping them from his elbow, beating the old 'snatch' record of 107.

Mr Gould, of Felixstowe, Suffolk, adds the three records to his previous tally of 13 Guinness World Record entries, which include licking and sticking 235 stamps to envelopes in five minutes.

He also holds the record for catching an incredible 341 one penny coins from his elbow and eating 113 sweetcorn kernels with a cocktail stick in three minutes.

Speaking of his latest feat, he said: ''It was great to break three records and a really good event.

''It was a wonderful atmosphere in the pub and people really enjoyed the day.''

The world record attempts were carried out to celebrate the start of Proud of Pubs Week 2010 at the Wiremill, in Lingfield, Surrey - which is The Publican magazine's Pub of the Year - last week.

So not only is he damned good at it, he can do it blindfolded too! Well done Dean Gould, an Englishman to be proud of with an amazing talent in a very eccentric "sporting" area.

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English Heroes #8

An occasional series recording Englishmen, women and children who have done great things for themselves or others and reflected well on the country of their birth.

Step forward Alice Hipkiss ( Age 6) her family and the medical team at Great Ormond Street Hospital.

Telegraph.

Six-year-old Alice Hipkiss is now a picture of health but she has lived for for more than seven months with an artificial heart pumping blood around her body to keep her alive. 

She lived with the device, called a Berlin Heart, for 228 days - longer than anyone else in Britain.

Alice had been ill almost since birth.The left side of her heart did not work properly, meaning she would eventually need a transplant. 

It was thought, however, that she would be too weak to have articial heart device fitted. But her parents Liz and David, Hopkiss, of Yarnton in Oxfordshire, refused to give up on her.

The machine was eventually fitted, to keep her alive by taking up the work of her dangerously weakened heart, while she grew strong enough to have a full heart transplant.

Shortly after the transplant at Great Ormond Street Hospital, in central London, she suffered another setback when she developed cancer due to the strong drugs she was taking. But she beat the cancer and is now enjoying a normal life.

Her father David said she is his 'dancing princess'.

"I pinch myself every day. We have been through high and lows and we have come through," he said.

They are eternally grateful to the family who allowed their child's heart to be donated.

Mr Hopkiss, who is chief executive of a pharmceutical technology company in Oxford, said: "We wouldn't be here without the wonderful gift of a family who we will never know. We think about them every day“, he said.

Whilst there a some out there who may not think Alice particularly heroic, nonetheless, she triumphed in adversary, and is an example of the very best that an English hospital can do.
Alice Hipkiss, this blog salutes you and wishes you long life and happiness.
This blog also salutes the medical team at Great Ormond Street Hospital who kept a little girl alive despite all the odds against her.

 

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English Heroes #7

An occasional series recording Englishmen, women and children who have done great things for themselves or others and reflected well on the country of their birth.

Step forward Alex Rowe, Newcastle-born and Gloucestershire-raised.

Times.

Amid the pomp of the Bastille Day celebrations in Paris next month, Alex Rowe, Newcastle-born and Gloucestershire-raised, will be invested as a Chevalier of the Légion d’Honneur for his service in the French Foreign Legion.

It is an honour unheard of for an English legionnaire, but Adjudant-chef Rowe is frank: he would much rather have joined the British Army. While his twin brother, Mark, was accepted into the Royal Engineers, Adjudant-chef Rowe was rejected because of a childhood detached retina.

The decision still rankles. While he speaks matter-of-factly about quelling African rebellions and escaping death in a Taleban ambush, mention the British army and he suddenly becomes animated. “I became a sniper, this is the point,” he said, his accent veering between Geordie and French. “You can’t get into the British army because you’ve got a f***ed eye, and you become a sniper in the French Foreign Legion. Something’s gone wrong there.”

Not just a sniper, but one of the most highly decorated of all legionnaires. He has seen action in Bosnia, Kosovo, central Africa, the Ivory Coast and Afghanistan, winning an astonishing five citations for bravery. In his first interview, he told The Times: “Most guys will have one citation, some will have two. Three is very rare. Five is . . .” here he tailed off into a very Gallic shrug. “But I haven’t done anything more than my job.”

A very brave man and an example to all who would give up at the first hurdle, rejected by the British army this Englishman was forced to go abroad to prove his worth. Five citations for heroism in one of the elite armies in the world.

Although he feels neither “One hundred per cent British” nor French, he has never taken out French citizenship and admitted frankly: “I would still have still preferred to have been a British soldier. I have a good life these days, but I’d be at least a colonel in the Parachute Regiment by now — if I was still alive, of course.”

Alex Rowe, this blog salutes you, you're a brave man and an example to us all, the British may have rejected you, but the English never will.

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Symbolism

Every so often some academic (or foreigner) comes along and points out that the patron saint of England was neither English, nor ever been here and that we should get rid of him. They normally don't do it for St Patrick (Welshman, though he did end up in Ireland) or St Andrew (Jewish) mostly because they know the reaction they'll get.

Step forward Dr Markus Eichhorn.

Dragon-slaying martyr St George should be replaced as a symbol of England, university academics have said.

With national identity in sharp focus leading up to the World Cup, experts at the University of Nottingham have come up with a new idea.
They believe the English oak would be a far better symbol.
"St George is a peculiar symbol," says Dr Markus Eichhorn, from the University's school of biology.
"He was Turkish, he never visited this country and he has no particular associations with England."
He added: "What better symbol of England than the oak which has been a key element of the country's culture, geography and economy for thousands of years?"
Dr Eichhorn suggests May 29th as a potential date for a new English national day, replacing St George's Day on April 23rd.
Already known as Oak Apple Day or Royal Oak Day, it marks the day Charles II hid from the rebel forces in an oak tree after the battle of Worcester in 1651.
When the monarchy was restored in 1660 he decreed the date should be celebrated and that trees should be dressed as part of the festivities.

So not only not English, not only never lived here, but replace him with a tree too. This sort of thing comes around every year, though I do feel that Royal Oak day should have significance in a restored England, however a saint it is not, merely a symbol of the escape of Charles II and the restored monarchy. No, it's not where St George comes from that makes him significant to the English, it's what he represents, the patron saint of soldiers of being prepared to stand up to evil and wrongness, to defend the innocent, to do what is right no matter the odds against you. That is why St George was chosen, not because of where he came from, but what he represents. There are saints aplenty born in this land, but few who represent anything other than martyrdom and were in the past not wholly of England. Alfred the Great being one, a great man yes, but only king of Wessex, though oddly enough his reign started on 23 April 871 St Georges day.
I doubt anything will be done anyway, Dr Markus Eichhorn is simply headline grabbing, the English aren't about to change their Patron Saint, nor their flag, especially not these days when we feel under siege by the politically correct "Righteous" British. The popularity of St George and his day will continue to grow in England whether he was one of us or not simply because it is opposed by the "Righteous" in local councils and national government who hate the English and what we represent and wish we were regional and British.
So the more headlines like this that come up, the more the English dig their heels in, 14 years ago you hardly ever saw an English flag, now they're everywhere and not just for the football. St George's day parades were few and far between, now they're springing up all over the country. The English are slowly but surely waking up from the deadening, numbing hand of Britishness and finding new strength from old symbols and the "Righteous" hate this, which makes it all the more worth doing.

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English Heroes #6

An occasional series recording Englishmen, women and children who have done great things for themselves or others and reflected well on the country of their birth.

Step forward Brian Burnie a Newcastle-born millionaire.

BBC.

A Northumberland millionaire has sold his country estate near Alnwick, giving every penny of the proceeds to charity.

Brian Burnie put Doxford Hall Hotel and its 10-acre estate up for sale for £9m, pledging that the proceeds would go to fund cancer care in the region.
Mr Burnie, 64, said he and his family would be "sad to leave" the hotel.
Northumberland couple Robert and Gina Parker have bought the site. They already own a number of estates in the north of England and Shropshire.
Mr Burnie said: "We live in a me, me, me society and it has always been important to me to think of others.
"We can all do something by leaving money to charity when we die, but why don't we do something while we are still living?"
He wants to pay for a Macmillan cancer nurse for north Northumberland and buy custom-made vehicles to take cancer patients to and from hospitals.

The father-of-three said he and his wife Shirley - a breast cancer survivor - would live on their private pension.
The Newcastle-born millionaire said: "After 17 years this is an important milestone for me and my family and of course we will be sad to leave.
"I've done the stately home bit - the bricks and mortar - but I've always been a people person. To be able to do something to help people has a much bigger return than any financial gain."
"You are what your parents are and you should never forget your roots - we were millionaires in kindness, not money."

Words cannot express my admiration of Mr Burnie, he's worked hard all his life and now is putting something back into society, far more in fact than he's ever taken out.

Mr Burnie, this blog salutes you and your good lady and wishes you all the best for your future and many thanks for the future you have provided for others.

More about → English Heroes #6

English Heroes #5

An occasional series recording Englishmen, women and children who have done great things for themselves or others and reflected well on the country of their birth.

Step forward Charlie Simpson aged 7.


Times.

A seven-year-old boy has raised more than £50,000 for survivors of the Haitian earthquake in one day after seeing images of children being pulled alive from the rubble.

Charlie Simpson set out to raise £500 for the Unicef Haiti Appeal by riding his bike five miles around his local park. Instead his efforts inspired hundreds of people online.

Charlie, from Fulham, West London, said: “I just think it was quite sad when I saw the pictures on the TV.” He asked his mother, Leonora, to help to create a sponsorship form that they put on the internet. Mrs Simpson said: “What started off as a little cycle round the park with his dad has turned into something a lot bigger than that and we can’t believe it. I am extremely proud of our Charlie.”

She said that when her son saw the images on television he “burst into tears”. “Then we had about a chat about the things he could do, and how he could go about it.”

His JustGiving page is here. Should you want to contribute.

Now I know I have said that charity begins at home, however I do believe that what people do with their money is up to them and certainly not up to the government of any stripe. So what Charlie did was both amazing and constructive and will help the Haitians to recover from the tragic events in their country.

Well done that (young) man.

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English Heroes, R.......Evolutionary England

On this day the oddly titled  "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection" was published, (A later edition was simply titled "The Origin of Species") Iit was a groundbreaking scientific work by English naturalist Charles Darwin.
Darwin's theory argued that organisms gradually evolve through a process he called "natural selection." In natural selection, organisms with genetic variations that suit their environment tend to propagate more descendants than organisms of the same species that lack the variation, thus influencing the overall genetic makeup of the species.

Despite the best efforts of religionists around the world, Darwin's methodology continues to be taught as an accurate guide to the evolutionary development of life on Earth. "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection" sold out on its first printing yet was condemned by orthodox Christians as heresy.
Yet to me Darwin was one of the greatest scientific minds in human history, he did for biology what Albert Einstein did for physics and the Bank of England honour him on the £10 note.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland £10 note with Charles Darwin upon it.

Down House where Darwin lived, studied and finally published "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection" is quite close to where I live, it's near Biggin Hill airdrome. And the country walks that Darwin took are all part of an English Heritage site and worth the time to wander through, particularly in the spring and summer.

Yet Darwin almost didn't publish his work, he'd had it mostly written up for 21 years before it finally got to a publisher and into print. The delays are attributed to the controversy Darwin knew he would stir up and yet he continued to work upon it, refining it to the point where criticism would be difficult from the scientific community. For when writing his book, Darwin carefully laid out the arguments against his theory. Rather than setting up a straw man he could easily knock down, he stated the opposing view with care. He then answered the arguments not with sarcasm, but with evidence. Darwin had long made a habit of paying attention to inconvenient facts, and this helped him anticipate his critics.

A great man and a great English hero.

There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.

Charles Darwin
On the Origin of Species

By the time of Darwin's death in 1882, his theory of evolution was generally accepted. In honour of his scientific work, he was buried in Westminster Abbey beside kings, queens, and other illustrious figures from English history. Subsequent developments in genetics and molecular biology have led to modifications in accepted evolutionary theory, but Darwin's ideas remain central to the field.

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We will remember them

For The Fallen

With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.

Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres,
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;
They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables of home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England's foam.

But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;

As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.

Laurence Binyon (1869-1943)

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A good day to be an Englishman #5

David Deron Haye (born 13 October 1980 Bermondsey, London) is an English professional boxer and currently the WBA Heavyweight Champion of the World!

Haye took the majority decision, the first judge scored it 114-114, with the other two scoring it 116-112.

There were wild scenes in Germany, the Nuremberg Arena went mental. Haye was overcome with emotion as he was embraced by his trainer Adam Booth.

Well done David Haye, an Englishman to be proud of!

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A good day to be an Englishman #4

Especially when the Current Miss England is Lance Corporal Katrina Hodge.

L/Cpl Hodge has been given leave from her duties as a soldier in the British Army and will represent England in the Miss World Final in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Saturday December 12.
She was previously given an award by her unit in the Royal Anglian Regiment for her actions during a posting in Basra and has earned the nickname ''Combat Barbie''.
She has also previously worked with lingerie chain La Senza on its Face of the Armed Forces campaign.
Lisa Bond, marketing director of La Senza said: ''Not only is she absolutely gorgeous but she is also an intelligent, inspiring young woman who does such an amazing job for her country.''

I'm really pleased for L/Cpl Hodge and was disappointed that she missed out in the original competition. Hopefully she'll act as a brilliant role model for the young ladies of England.

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English Heroes #4

An occasional series recording English men and women who have done great things for themselves or others and reflected well on the country of their birth.

Simon Somerville is a remarkable, very brave man, who almost died defending kids under his care.

Youth bailed after 'hero' volunteer stabbed

A 16-year-old arrested on suspicion of stabbing a church volunteer was today released on bail, Scotland Yard said.
The victim, named in reports as Simon Somerville, was attacked outside an anti-crime seminar at a theatre in Deptford, south east London.
He was stabbed repeatedly when he confronted a rowdy gang outside a meeting for young Christians, and remains critically ill in hospital.
The 41-year-old's brother-in-law Eddie Hypolite told the London Evening Standard: "The gang had been making trouble outside the event and when Simon was leaving the building with a number of his kids, they were attacked.

"Simon stood between the gang members and his kids. He was protecting them. He was trying to be the peacemaker and one of the gang members just went at him with a knife.
"The children told us that if Simon had not stepped in, they could have been killed. Simon is a hero. He almost died because he protected the children in his care."

A second victim, a 16-year-old boy, suffered stab wounds to his lower body when he stepped in to help the man at around 9.15pm on Wednesday night, Scotland Yard said. He was treated and discharged.
Officers had already been alerted to a large group of youths causing trouble outside the event in Douglas Way shortly before 7pm.
The teenager who was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder was bailed until a later date.

Simon Somerville, this blog salutes you, this country needs more fine people like you who are prepared to defend the weak even at the risk of their own lives, you are a true Englishman.

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A good day to be an Englishman #3

Jenson Button sealed the drivers' championship with a superb recovery drive at a dramatic Brazilian Grand Prix won by Red Bull's Mark Webber.

Brawn's English driver started from 14th but executed a series of spectacular early overtaking moves before finishing the race fifth.

His main title threat, team-mate Rubens Barrichello, suffered a late puncture which dropped him down to eighth place.

Well done that man.

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English Heroes #3

An occasional series recording English men and women who have done great things for themselves or others and reflected well on the country of their birth.

A waiter given a £10,000 reward for helping to convict a rapist has donated the money to the victim.

Lloyd Gardner, 22, of Ottery St Mary, Devon, contacted police in 2006 after seeing CCTV footage of a man wanted in connection with the rape in Exeter.
He spotted two women he knew on the film - and they led police to rapist Jakub Tomczak.
Mr Gardner said he did not deserve the reward and hoped the cash would help the woman rebuild her life.
He said: "I was told I was entitled to a reward because I gave police the lead they needed as I recognised the two girls and through them detectives were able to track the man down.

"It was a difficult decision to make because it is a lot of money and it would have been very helpful but I didn't feel like a deserved it at all.
"With the state that the girl was in after the incident, I really felt that it would go towards making her life a lot better over the next couple of years."

Lloyd Gardner, this blog salutes you, a true Englishman.

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English Heroes #2

An occasional series recording English men and women who achieved great things for themselves and reflected well on the country of their birth.

Source the BBC, who again fall into the trap of calling an Englishwoman British.

The only woman in the French Foreign Legion

An English tennis-playing socialite became the only woman in the French Foreign Legion, leading a daring, wartime, desert escape. She would have been 100 this week and her story remains inspirational, writes biographer and friend Wendy Holden.

When I first met Susan Travers in a Paris nursing home in 1999, she was a papery-skinned 90-year-old who spoke with a cut-glass English accent. Unable to walk, she insisted that before we began I wheel her to a local restaurant for lunch.

There can have been few in the suburban restaurant who gave this frail old lady a second glance as she ate her omelette and drank a glass of champagne. Unless, that is, they noticed the small coloured ribbons pinned to the lapel of her tweed suit.

One defined her as a recipient of the Legion d'Honneur, a French military honour established by Napoleon, others were for the Medaille Militaire and the Croix de Guerre. But the last red and blue ribbon was unique - it identified Travers as the only woman in the French Foreign Legion.

Born in southern England as the daughter of a Royal Navy admiral, but raised as a young tennis-playing socialite in the south of France, Travers was among thousands of women who joined the French Red Cross at the outbreak of the Second World War.

Trained as a nurse, she spurned that as being "far too messy" for the more exciting role of ambulance driver, joining the French expeditionary force to Finland to help in the Winter War against the Russians.

An incredible story of an incredible woman. Read the full story and see that courage cannot be boxed into gender or nationality. Susan Travers, your country salutes you.

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English heroes

Taken from the Sky News web page though they fall into the usual trap of calling him a Brit. This will be an occasional series recording English men and women who are achieving great things for themselves and reflecting well on the country of their birth.

I'm not going for the famous or well known, just people who are worth a mention for achieving amazing things and who rarely if ever get a mention in the papers.

English explorer David Hempleman-Adams is attempting to break the world record for endurance in a hot air balloon today.

Hempleman-Adams' records include staging the highest formal dinner party

Hempleman-Adams, who has 44 world aviation records, will use a tiny gas balloon with a capsule the size of a laundry basket as he flies over the maize fields of Kansas in the US.

The current record, held by American Coy Foster, stands at eight hours and 12 minutes and was set when he flew over Texas in May 1983.

Hempleman-Adams said: "This is the tiniest balloon basket I've ever flown in.

"I'm petrified of landing in water which can be one of the most dangerous manoeuvres in ballooning, so I thought flying over maize fields would be a better option.

"However, given that Kansas is the third highest wind-powered state in the entire US, I will be very much on the lookout for some of the thousands of wind turbines that populate the area.

Hope he breaks the record, he has a damned good track record so far.

Update, He did it!

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