YP Comment: The last of a great generation

doug lIGHTNING was far more than a great-great-grandfather to his doting family. The venerable 99-year-old, whose sad death has been announced, deserves to be remembered as a hero of Sheffield.
Doug Lightning during the Second World War.Doug Lightning during the Second World War.
Doug Lightning during the Second World War.

He was the last surviving firefighter from the 1940 Sheffield Blitz and was widely credited with putting out a raging blaze on the roof of the city’s iconic Town Hall – he later learned that the building housed a secret communications base.

The last of a generation, Mr Lightning and his late colleagues deserve to be remembered with the same gratitude and goodwill afforded to those members of the Armed Forces who fought for Britain’s liberty in two world wars.