Winning respect

Their feats in the First World War and the Falklands conflict may have been separated by 70 years but there is a common theme – all three came from Rotherham and all three received the Victoria Cross, Britain’s highest gallantry award, for their valour.

This poignant tribute, coming on the same day that celebrity chef Marco Pierre White launched a new initiative to help vulnerable veterans in North Yorkshire, shows, once again, the public’s enduring goodwill towards the Armed Forces.

For, while politicians still try to define the term “respect”, six years after Tony Blair first promised to champion this notion, people across Yorkshire continue to show that this exercise begins with the military – and the bravery of those who represent the very best of Britain through their humility, deeds and sacrifices. And this will always be so.