Latest news with #PrisonerofWar
Daily Mirror
27-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mirror
Incredible story of Chelsea's first ballboy - War hero, POW & 120-year-old photo
Amazing find as historians identify Chelsea's first ever ball boy from 1905. His grandaughter says he will be cheering them on in the European Conference final "in heaven" As Chelsea prepare for their big European cup final against Real Betis historians have astonishingly tracked down the identity of their first ever ball boy photographed back in 1905. James Ridley was pictured standing behind the team line-up as a young 13-year-old schoolboy. Now James's family have finally been tracked down and they described his lifelong love for Chelsea. And they even revealed how he went onto become a World War One hero and held as a Prisoner of War. His grand-daughter Sylvia Jensen is now living in Canada and said James died back in 1975 but always had an extraordinary passion for Chelsea. Mirror Sport spoke to Sylvia about her grandad who she recalled with great affection. Sylvia said: "Grandad was actually given the Chelsea 1905 team photo by the Club after they had it taken, as a memento for being their very first ball boy. You can see him standing on the right behind the player called Moran. He kept this photo safe all through his life in his special keepsake box. "These first Chelsea football players became his heroes and they treated him very well. I have very vivid memories of my grandparents, having adored them as a child." She added: "My Grandad Jim would be overjoyed if he knew the Daily Mirror was writing a story about him so many years later. You can bet he is cheering on Chelsea this week from his seat in heaven." Sylvia went on to reveal the extraordinary bravery of her Grandad in World War One. He ended up being held as a German Prisoner of War. She said: "When WW1 broke out he saw a poster and wasted no time in acting upon it He loved his team so much, that once the call out for recruiting men to fight in World War One came. "Grandad saw the poster displayed on the fencing at Stamford Bridge. It was blue, in Chelsea colours, and asked the fans: 'Do You Want To Be A Chelsea Die-Hard?' If so, join the 17th Battalion Middlesex Regt. and follow the lead given by your favourite football players" "I have a copy of that poster that I made into a picture that hangs on my wall in my home above Grandad's army photos and his 1905 Chelsea Eleven photo I had enlarged and framed. Grandad knew his team had a 'Pals Battalion, 1st Footballers', and wanted to join them and fight alongside his heroes. "Grandad said that he played football with some of the best football players in the country whilst he served alongside them over in France, on their rest periods. He absolutely enjoyed that experience and treasured those memories, often telling his sons his stories. "He was wounded by gunshot in July 1916 and sent back home to recover, heal, and then retrain for battle conditions. During this time he met my Nannie Annie. He was a bit naughty whilst courting her as his military records show he got disciplined and fined three times for being late back to camp, but he was totally in love." James was later awarded these medals: 1914-15 Star, received 22 March 1921, British War Medal 14-18, received 4 October 1921. Victory Medal, received 4 October, 1921. He was demobilised and discharged on 21 March 1919. After he returned from War he continued his support of Chelsea. Sylvia said: "Grandad often said that, once home from the war, the games kept him going, helping with his morale and the horrible memories he carried. "In those days post traumatic stress was not recognised like it is today, and it was his love of his team, going to see them play when at home, and playing piano for them, that greatly helped him get through and carry on." Sylvia added: "My Dad was born in 1931 and Grandad would take him over to Eel Brook Common to play a bit of football together. As a boy, he would sneak into see Chelsea play at home by getting through at the Shed End. He and his friends did this as they didn't have any money to pay to get in. My Dad was a Chelsea fan all his life, too." Historian and Chelsea fan Andrew Rowley said: "A few years ago a WW1 historical website ran an article on Chelsea's involvement with the 17th Football Battalion of the Middlesex. "Not only had our amateur captain, Vivian Woodward joined, it also mentioned James Ridley as well. He was a 13-year-old living opposite Stamford Bridge he had volunteered as a ball-boy, back in 1905 and sneaked into the first Chelsea team photograph so he could be seen with his idols. "I was reminded of this recently by Andy Jackson - who is one of our followers at Chelsea Graves Society. I decided to see if he had any living relatives. Incredibly I managed to find Sylvia and she was so delighted her grandad was still being remembered after all this time. "It's lovely that on the eve of this final against Real Betis that someone who was photographed in our very first photo has been identified and the story of his real love of Chelsea told in full." Nathan Whitehouse of the Chelsea Graves Society said: 'It was great work by the team - especially Andrew Rowley. It's fantastic that these great Chelsea characters are remembered properly.'
Business Mayor
20-05-2025
- Business
- Business Mayor
Trump to press Putin to end 'bloodbath' in Ukraine
Global Economy May 20, 2025 Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump. Mikhail Metzel | Evelyn Hockstein | Via Reuters U.S. President Donald Trump will speak separately with Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday in hopes of ending the 'bloodbath' in Ukraine, amid concerns over Washington's ongoing push to broker peace-making. 'HOPEFULLY IT WILL BE A PRODUCTIVE DAY, A CEASEFIRE WILL TAKE PLACE, AND THIS VERY VIOLENT WAR, A WAR THAT SHOULD HAVE NEVER HAPPENED, WILL END,' Trump wrote on his Truth social media platform Saturday in his customary all-capitalized comments. The subject of the call will be trade and stopping the 'bloodbath' of Russian and Ukrainian deaths, he said. His call with Putin will take place at 5 p.m. Moscow time (10:00 a.m. E.T.) and will take into account the outcome of negotiations carried out last week in Istanbul, Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Monday, according to Google-translated comments carried by Russian state news agency Tass. The U.S. mediation is set to happen after representatives from Russia and Ukraine held their first face-to-face talks since 2022 in Istanbul last week, as part of downgraded discussions that had originally been hoped to bring together Moscow and Kyiv's heads of state. Putin and Trump ultimately spurned the meeting, which culminated in an agreement to exchange prisoners of war, but failed to progress the peace process. Talks to end the three-year war in Ukraine have languished in recent months, despite a U.S. drive to materialize Trump's pledge to achieve peace urgently. Threats from Trump that Washington could withdraw from the diplomatic process in the absence of an imminent resolution have raised concerns that the White House might diminish its critical military and humanitarian support for Ukraine. Trump, whose revived dormant relations with the Kremlin after years of frigidity under his predecessor Joe Biden's administration, has recently turned tack on his reluctance to directly criticize Putin, increasingly levying the possibility of further sanctions on Moscow and backing a Ukraine and Europe-endorsed call for a 30-day ceasefire. The contours of a temporary truce or permanent peace proposal have remained elusive, amid maximalist Russian demands and Zelenskyy's unwillingness to entertain potential territorial concessions. 'The U.S. has presented a strong peace plan and we welcome the Prisoner of War exchange agreement reached in Istanbul. Let's not miss this huge opportunity. The time for ending this war is now,' U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on social media Saturday, following a call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. 'He explained to me that they are going to be preparing a document outlining their requirements for a ceasefire that will then lead to broader negotiations,' Rubio said in a later TV interview with CBS. 'Obviously, the Ukrainian side is going to be working on their own proposal. And hopefully that will be forthcoming soon.' Yet the signs of Washington's dwindling patience with the stalled process linger. 'We don't want to be involved in this process of just endless talks. There has to be some progress, some movement forward,' Rubio stressed. On Sunday, Zelenskyy also met with Rubio and U.S. Vice President JD Vance, decrying on social media the 'low level delegation of non-decision-makers' deployed by Russia to Istanbul last week, adding that he reaffirmed that 'Ukraine is ready to be engaged in real diplomacy and underscored the importance of a full and unconditional ceasefire as soon as possible.' Sidelined throughout much of the recent peace brokering, European officials have raced to engage with the White House, with British, U.S., Italian, French and German leaders discussing Trump's upcoming engagement with Putin during a call on Sunday. 'Looking ahead to President Trump's call with President Putin tomorrow, the leaders discussed the need for an unconditional ceasefire and for President Putin to take peace talks seriously,' a British government readout said. 'They also discussed the use of sanctions if Russia failed to engage seriously in a ceasefire and peace talks.' READ SOURCE
Epoch Times
17-05-2025
- Politics
- Epoch Times
Trump to Call Putin and Zelenskyy Monday in Bid to End Ukraine War
President Donald Trump said he plans to speak by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday morning, followed by calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and NATO allies, in an effort to broker a cease-fire in the Ukraine war. 'I will be speaking, by telephone, to President Vladimir Putin of Russia on Monday, at 10:00 a.m.,' Trump Trump added that he would then speak with Zelenskyy and various NATO allies to build support for ending what he called 'a war that should have never happened.' 'Hopefully it will be a productive day, a ceasefire will take place, and this very violent war will end,' Trump wrote. 'God bless us all!' Trump's remarks come on the heels of the first direct peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv since 2022, which were held in Istanbul on May 16 and failed to yield a cease-fire. The talks, which lasted nearly two hours, Putin had proposed holding negotiations 'without preconditions,' but rejected Zelenskyy's request for a face-to-face meeting. In response, Zelenskyy sent a lower-level delegation, led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, to meet with a Russian team headed by Putin aide Vladimir Medinsky. Both sides confirmed the prisoner exchange deal, but offered few additional details. Ukraine's military intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov, said the swap could take place as early as next week. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on any further conditions discussed at the talks, telling reporters in Moscow on Saturday that negotiations 'are taking place behind closed doors, just as they should—to ensure they are productive.' Peskov added that Russia plans to present Ukraine with a list of cease-fire conditions but did not specify a timeline. He also did not rule out a future meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy, saying it would depend on the success of the prisoner exchange and progress in further talks. In a separate development, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke by phone on May 17 to discuss the outcome of the Istanbul meeting and the broader contours of the cease-fire. Rubio said in a 'The U.S. has presented a strong peace plan and we welcome the Prisoner of War exchange agreement reached in Istanbul,' Rubio wrote. 'Let's not miss this huge opportunity. The time for ending this war is now.' Lavrov 'noted the US' positive role' in getting Ukraine to return to the negotiating table and confirmed Moscow's willingness to continue diplomatic engagement, the Russian Foreign Ministry said, Zelenskyy, for his part, expressed frustration with the stalled talks and reiterated Ukraine's call for a full, unconditional cease-fire. 'Ukraine has long been offering this—a full and unconditional ceasefire in order to save lives. Russia retains nothing but the ability to continue killing,' Zelenskyy said in a post on social media on Saturday. He accused Russian forces of deliberately targeting civilians, citing a drone strike on a bus evacuating residents from the Sumy region that killed nine people. 'All the deceased were civilians,' he said. 'This was a deliberate killing of civilians.' Russia's Defense Ministry said its forces struck a military site in Sumy but did not mention any civilian casualties. Zelenskyy also called for harsher sanctions on Moscow if it refuses to pursue serious peace efforts. 'Without tougher sanctions, without stronger pressure, Russia will not seek real diplomacy,' he wrote on social media. Trump, speaking to Fox News in an 'I think we'll make a deal,' he said. 'We have to get together, and I think we'll probably schedule it.'
The Sun
04-05-2025
- General
- The Sun
Nearly half of Brits don't know when VE day happened, new study reveals – as country celebrates 80th anniversary
NEARLY half of Brits do not know when VE Day happened – and one in 10 don't even know what it stands for. With the country gearing up to mark 80 years since the end of World War II in Europe, research of 2,000 adults revealed 46 per cent don't know when VE Day took place. 3 3 And 47 per cent are completely unaware of how their ancestors might have celebrated the momentous occasion in 1945. Despite this, 25 per cent wish they had photos of loved ones marking the day all those years ago. While 38 per cent want to see the celebratory traditions of VE Day kept alive for future generations. The research was commissioned by Findmypast to mark the launch of a VE Day photo archive, and is inviting the public to share their family connections and stories behind the historic images. Pat Owtram, who was 18 when she joined the Women's Royal Naval Service (WREN) after signing the Official Secrets Act in Liverpool's Royal Liver Building – and went on to become a wartime codebreaker – still has vivid memories of 8th May 1945. She said: 'VE Day was an unforgettable day. 'It came as a huge relief, and I remember the cheers and tremendous excitement of the crowds as I joined them outside Buckingham Palace – though I didn't feel I could celebrate fully while my father was still a Prisoner of War. 'VE Day signified the beginning of a brighter future – six long years of war in Europe were over. 'I felt I'd played my part in the WRENs and looked forward to my father returning home. 'Keeping these memories alive is so important – and having access to wartime records really matters. VE Day was a 'jolly' moment but work went on, 100-year-old former Wren says 'They help us remember, understand, and pass these powerful stories on for future generations.' The study also found two-thirds (65 per cent) have either celebrated VE Day in the past or plan to this year. Many will mark the occasion with a moment of silence (41 per cent) and listening to or watching war stories (28 per cent). While others will talk to or about ancestors who served (18 per cent). Historian Lucy Worsley OBE said: 'VE Day in 1945 was a profound moment in our national history, and these images capture that feeling of immense relief and hope – but it's only if we take a deeper look into the stories behind these smiles that we can understand what this moment truly meant. 'That's why I'm calling on the public to delve deeper into their family's wartime experiences. 'This is a powerful way to understand the everyday realties during an extraordinary time, from your great granny on the Home Front operating industrial machinery to your great-uncles under fire on the Normandy beaches. 'On this special 80th anniversary, let's make sure these wartime stories come to light and are remembered.' Jen Baldwin from Findmypast added: 'The findings suggest that although many are still celebrating VE Day, knowledge of the special day is declining. 'Historical newspapers and records offer a treasure trove of information to help uncover and understand your ancestors' experiences. 'This new collection reveals how millions flocked to the streets to celebrate, but the stories behind many of those smiling faces are not widely known. 'We want everyone to help us create a collective record of the nation's wartime family stories – from the eve of war to VE Day celebrations – to preserve these precious memories for generations to come.' 3
The Irish Sun
04-05-2025
- General
- The Irish Sun
Nearly half of Brits don't know when VE day happened, new study reveals – as country celebrates 80th anniversary
NEARLY half of Brits do not know when VE Day happened – and one in 10 don't even know what it stands for. With the country gearing up to mark 80 years since the end of World War II in Europe, research of 2,000 adults revealed 46 per cent don't know when VE Day took place. Advertisement 3 The research was commissioned by Findmypast to mark the launch of a VE Day photo archive 3 Many will mark the occasion with a moment of silence (41 per cent) and listening to or watching war stories (28 per cent) And 47 per cent are completely unaware of how their ancestors might have celebrated the momentous occasion in 1945. Despite this, 25 per cent wish they had photos of loved ones marking the day all those years ago. While 38 per cent want to see the celebratory traditions of VE Day kept alive for future generations. The research was commissioned by Advertisement Read more on News Pat Owtram, who was 18 when she joined the She said: 'VE Day was an unforgettable day. 'It came as a huge relief, and I remember the cheers and tremendous excitement of the crowds as I joined them outside Buckingham Palace – though I didn't feel I could celebrate fully while my father was still a Prisoner of War. 'VE Day signified the beginning of a brighter future – six long years of war in Europe were over. Advertisement Most read in The Sun Exclusive Exclusive 'I felt I'd played my part in the WRENs and looked forward to my father returning home. 'Keeping these memories alive is so important – and having access to wartime records really matters. VE Day was a 'jolly' moment but work went on, 100-year-old former Wren says 'They help us remember, understand, and pass these powerful stories on for future generations.' The study also found two-thirds (65 per cent) have either celebrated VE Day in the past or plan to this year. Advertisement Many will mark the occasion with a moment of silence (41 per cent) and listening to or watching war stories (28 per cent). While others will talk to or about ancestors who served (18 per cent). Historian Lucy Worsley OBE said: 'VE Day in 1945 was a profound moment in our national history, and these images capture that feeling of immense relief and hope – but it's only if we take a deeper look into the stories behind these smiles that we can understand what this moment truly meant. 'That's why I'm calling on the public to delve deeper into their family's wartime experiences. Advertisement 'This is a powerful way to understand the everyday realties during an extraordinary time, from your great granny on the Home Front operating industrial machinery to your great-uncles under fire on the 'On this special 80th anniversary, let's make sure these wartime stories come to light and are remembered.' Jen Baldwin from Findmypast added: 'The findings suggest that although many are still celebrating VE Day, knowledge of the special day is declining. 'Historical newspapers and records offer a treasure trove of information to help uncover and understand your ancestors' experiences. Advertisement 'This new collection reveals how millions flocked to the streets to celebrate, but the stories behind many of those smiling faces are not widely known. 'We want everyone to help us create a collective record of the nation's wartime family stories – from the eve of war to VE Day celebrations – to preserve these precious memories for generations to come.' 3 While others will talk to or about ancestors who served (18 per cent)
