100 years ago

A YORK Lady had received the following letter from G Headley, A B, a York man on HMS Lion:

“You will have heard about our little splash on Sunday, the 24th. The German ships were about to attack the Yorkshire coast again, but we caught them this time, and we avenged Scarborough, Whitby, and Hartlepool with great interest.

At 7am on Sunday the enemy were sighted making for the English coast. It was the desire of our lives to meet them as they were the same ships that raided the coast last time, and as our fellows loaded the guns they wrote on the shells ‘A present from Scarborough’.

As soon as the enemy sighted us they turned and fled, and most of them being Dreadnoughts they had a good turn of speed. We were a little faster than they were, and slowly but surely we began to gain on them, and at the same time our smaller ships tried to shut them out from the German coast.

The fiercest naval battle yet fought in the world’s history followed and for the second time since the war began our Admiral, Sir David Beatty, gained a naval victory for the British Empire.

 

50 years ago

ONE million Minis had been built. Just five-and-a-half years after its introduction, the millionth model rolled off the production line at Longbridge to set a new record for the British motor industry. For its creator, Alec Issigonis, this was a second triumph, for his Morris Minor, launched in 1948, had passed the million in 1961, clearly establishing his position as the outstanding designer of the current day.

Tributes had to be paid, too, to the British Motor Corporation and the 87,000 employees in the Cowley, Longbridge and other factories, who built the car and whose skill and enthusiasm had put it in the forefront of the world.

The first models, standard and deluxe versions of the Austin and Morris Mini-Minor, had been introduced in August, 1959.

 

25 years ago

A MOTHER had told how a doctor delivering her premature twins at a York hospital had fainted from exhaustion. A spokesman for junior doctors at the hospital warned that there were no limits on the hours they worked.

Mrs Prue Jones, of Selby had just been delivered of the first tiny twin when the doctor in charge turned pale and said he felt unwell. “He just keeled over,” said Mrs Jones.

A spokesman at York District Hospital said: “Yes, we do work long hours and we can be on call for 80 to 100 hours a week. There are limits on the hours drivers and other trades can work, but no such limitation on junior doctors.”