Fathers of PC Nicola Hughes and PC Fiona Bone say Elizabeth Emblem a fitting ‘tribute’
The fathers of two murdered policewomen have hailed the new Elizabeth Emblem as a fitting “tribute” to their daughters and others who have died in the line of duty.
Bryn Hughes and Paul Bone both received the emblem from the King during the first presentation of the awards, following the deaths of their daughters, PCs Nicola Hughes and Fiona Bone, who were murdered after answering a 999 call.
Charles spent an hour with the families of 38 men and women who were fire fighters, police officers or other public servants, chatting about the loved ones they lost and handing over the nation’s gratitude in the form of the emblem.
Pcs Nicola Hughes, 23, and Fiona Bone, 32, were murdered by Dale Cregan in a gun and grenade attack after responding to a 999 call in Hattersley, Greater Manchester, in 2012.
Following a campaign by Mr Hughes and Mr Bone, it was announced earlier this year that the emblem would be awarded to the next of kin of police officers, firefighters and other public servants.
Mr Hugues, from Huddersfield, said after the Windsor Castle ceremony: “We can’t change what’s happened, but I think if we can remember them and honour them in this way, that’s a quite efficient tribute – quite rightly so as well.”
He added: “It’s been a long arduous campaign but it’s been worthwhile in the end, to see so many families here today receiving it after so many years. It’s been quite poignant quite, emotional at times.”
Mr Bone, from Pool in Wharfedale, West Yorkshire, said: “It’s nice to be at the end of the process and (to get) recognition finally from the state for people who have lost their lives.”
Among the families were brother and sister Robert Marsh, 81, and Carole Henbury, 83, whose father Leslie Marsh, a firefighter working in Birmingham, died 75 years ago while tackling a blaze.
The fireman’s daughter said about the emblem: “I’m so proud to accept it on behalf of my father and my mother. Everybody here they deserve recognition and it’s taken too long to get it – but we’re very honoured to receive it now from His Majesty.”
Mr Marsh described how his father, a talented artist and musician, was due to be promoted before he died a few days after falling through the floor of a burning building and sustaining spinal injuries in February 1949.
“This man could play the piano so beautifully that people would stand outside the house and listen to him play, it was just incredible,” he said.
Mr Marsh described how their mother’s fire service pension was just 18 shillings a week, but she worked three jobs to support the family, adding: “It’s a credit to her we were both successful in business.”
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