30 black cabs transport WWII Veterans who were honoured in Dutch Liberation Parade

30 black cabs transport WWII Veterans who were honoured in Dutch Liberation Parade

Twenty-five WWII veterans were applauded and honoured as they led the Dutch Liberation Parade through the streets of Wageningen on 5 May.

The veterans were taken to The Netherlands by the Taxi Charity for Military Veterans in a fleet of 30 black cabs. Their first experience of the love the Dutch have for them was as the cabs left the Ferry at The Hook of Holland and a police motorbike escort closed 75 miles of motorway and roads to take the veterans in convoy to Wageningen.

The Germans signed the capitulation in 1945 in Wageningen which gave the people of Netherlands their freedom. The Dutch experienced many hardships during the German occupation so the Liberation Parade on 5 May is a huge celebration that thousands attend to offer their love, admiration, and thanks to their liberators.

On 5 May, the veterans led the televised Dutch Liberation Parade while veterans 103 year old Ray Whitwell, and 102 year old Major Ted Hunt MVO, sat in Wageningen Square, outside the hotel where the capitulation was signed, with the invited dignitaries including the husband of the Dutch Princess Royal, Prof. Dr. Mr. Pieter van Vollenhoven. The Dutch Defence Minister Kajsa Ollongren spoke to the crowd of thousands and thanked Arnhem veterans Major Ted Hunt and Raymond Whitwell in her speech before the parade started.

Dick Goodwin, Vice President, Taxi Charity, said: “The outpouring of love for the veterans is incredible throughout our stay, but during the parade the noise of them thanking their liberators is deafening. Our veterans sit in three golf buggies and three black taxis at the head of the parade and the streets are lined by thousands of men women and children who cheer, applaud, and shower their liberators with flowers as we progress through the town. It is a truly moving and unforgettable experience and there are tears from both those in the parade and those who have come to say thank you and to celebrate their freedom.”

Arnhem Veteran, Geoff Roberts who served with the Kings Own Scottish Borderers, said: “I think of The Netherlands as my second home, and I love to visit as often I can. Participating in the parade is important so that we can thank the Dutch for welcoming us every year. I was captured in the Arnhem area in 1944 and was taken prisoner and was held POW for the rest of the war, but I will never forget the kindness of the people. They had so little, and so did we, but we shared whatever we had with each other.”

Frans Ammerlaan from The Market Garden Foundation, who coordinates Taxi Charity visits to The Netherlands, said: “I have been working with the Taxi Charity for many years to facilitate their visits. I consider myself very fortunate to call the volunteer Taxi drivers, the carers, charity team and the veterans my friends. As the veterans are in either their late nineties or hundreds the planning is complex, but it is so rewarding to see the joy when the veterans and the Dutch people come together to remember.”

To find out more about the support the Taxi Charity offers veterans and the trips they organise across the continent visit www.taxicharity.org.

East London Cabbies Outing Cancelled for 2022

East London Cabbies Outing Cancelled for 2022

The East London Cabbies Outing has been cancelled for 2022

The trip has been cancelled for a 3rd consecutive year, this year it cannot take place for a number of reasosns including a lack of drivers and committee resignations.

With a lot of drivers leaving the trade during the pandemic it was inevitable that some of the Taxi charities would lose members from their committee’s .

In a message the secretary stated

I hope you and your families are well and that you are beginning to recover from the huge impact Covid had on the trade.

Unfortunately due to a number of reasons including resignations from the Committee, ill health of a spouse and potential lack of drivers we have decided that we cannot run the day this year.

We do hope to be back next year in 2023 and, unless you tell me otherwise, I will be in touch once the planning starts.

Hopefully the trip will be able to take place during 2023 as it rea6lly is a great event to take part in.

103-year-old WWII Veteran Takes to the Skies

103-year-old WWII Veteran Takes to the Skies

Veteran Ray Whitwell enjoyed a flight in a glider on 3 May over the skies of Arnhem where he fought during World War Two.    

Ray Whitwell, 103, from Malton, North Yorkshire, was delighted when glider pilot Arjan Vrieze offered to take him up in a glider at the Gelderse Gliding Club during his visit to The Netherlands with the Taxi Charity for Dutch Liberation.

Glider pilot Arjan Vrieze said “When Ray visited The Netherlands with the Taxi Charity in March, I was honoured to be invited to take pictures of the trip by the Market Garden Foundation. Over dinner one evening  I asked Ray if he would like a flight in a glider and he jumped at the chance. He was a mere 102 when I asked him in March but now at 103 years old I wonder if he might have set some sort of record as the oldest veteran to go up in a glider?”

Ray Whitwell said after his flight “It was wonderful, I could see for miles. I loved every minute and was very glad that when we came down it was still 2022 and not 1944!”

Ray Whitwell who served with the Royal Army Service Corps landed in The Netherlands in September 1944 for Operation Market Garden  where more than 600 gliders were towed into battle to secure the Bridge at Arnhem and the planned advance into northern Germany. He says of that time with his usual acerbic sense of humour  “We went nine days without food during Operation Market Garden  and then snipers shot holes in the bucket we were collecting water in.”  One of the lucky ones, he evaded capture as he escaped back over the Rhine to British lines.

As part of the Taxi Charity visit to The Netherlands, Ray and other WWII veterans will be taking part in the Dutch Liberation Parade in Wageningen on Thursday 5 May when the streets will be lined with people cheering and thanking the veterans for giving them their freedom.

Dick Goodwin, Vice President of the Taxi Charity for Military Veterans said, “After not being able to travel to The Netherlands  for two years because of the pandemic it is a pleasure and privilege to have brought 25 veterans in 25 iconic London black taxis for Dutch Liberation this year. It is always moving to see the incredibly special reception the veterans will receive not only during the Liberation Parade but throughout our whole visit.”

To find out more about the support the Taxi Charity offers veterans visit www.taxicharity.org

 

Minicabs and others should also be able to use bus lanes and pick up passengers from the street

Minicabs and others should also be able to use bus lanes and pick up passengers from the street

BLACK cabs could be at the end of the road — as the Knowledge Test faces calls to be axed.

An influential think tank says drivers for ride-hailing apps including Uber should be allowed the same privileges as black cabbies.

A report by the Adam Smith Institute recommends the world-famous London map test should go — which licensed taxi leaders warned last night  would be a “disaster”.

Minicabs and others should also be able to use bus lanes and pick up passengers from the street to make services cheaper and easier, the institute recommends.

Ministers are currently mulling over more regulation by introducing an Ofqual-certified test for all potential cabbies.

But the ASI and Tory MP Greg Smith are calling for greater deregulation.

Mr Smith said reform is “long overdue”, adding: “The revolution in consumer choice that services like Uber brought needs to be matched with the way the state sees taxi services.”

Steve McNamara, of the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association, blasted the idea.

He said: “This report seems to advocate for a race to bottom, which would undermine the quality of the important service licensed taxis provide and seriously jeopardise passenger safety.”

He said it was exploring “how the Knowledge could be modernised” but scrapping it “would be catastrophic for the industry and passengers”.

The Cab Chat 250th Show

The Cab Chat 250th Show

Cab Chat has reached the momentous acheivment of 250 Cab Chat Shows and creeping towards 500,000 downloads. And that is without the Cab Chat Interviews and all of the special shows that the team have done. To show their commitment and determination to continue for another 250 shows the team have invested in a lot of new equipment to improve the sound of the show and make life easier to produce the podcast. Heres .looking forward to another 250 Cab Chat shows