Victory over Japan: 80th Anniversary

Gideon Amos Excerpts

Monday 21st July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Gideon Amos (Taunton and Wellington) (LD)]

I rise quite simply to honour all those who served in the Pacific campaign and in Asia during world war two. That included my own father—a very young Captain Amos at the time—who served at the end of the second world war after being redeployed from Europe. We also remember those who died on all sides, including thousands of civilians, and how strongly those events at the end of the second world war send the message that war is what happens when politics and diplomacy fail. Let us never forget that, along with the terrible consequences for those living with war right now.

Others who served in the Pacific campaign include many unsung heroes of the RAF’s photographic reconnaissance unit—I congratulate the hon. Member for Carlisle (Ms Minns) on securing a recent Westminster Hall debate on that—whose courage and skill gathered intelligence, shortened conflicts and saved lives. That intelligence was as vital in the eastern theatre as it was in the western European theatre.

I will take a moment to acknowledge those from my constituency who served in the PRU, whose bravery was as extraordinary as their sacrifice. Flying Officer Eric Durston from Wellington flew solo reconnaissance missions, capturing images critical to allied planning. He was lost over the Netherlands in 1942. His gravestone at Bergen bears the inscription:

“He died and never knew;

England, he died for you.”

It is signed simply, “Mother”—a mother whose heartache at the loss of her son at only 22 I can only imagine.

On Christmas eve 1944, Flying Officer Priddle from Taunton died when his Spitfire was shot down over Utrecht. More happily, Eric Hill—also of Taunton—flew Mosquitos across the Arctic, on the eastern front and over Germany on dangerous missions. One such mission—to photograph Tirpitz—was over 3,000 miles long and lasted more than 10 hours. It is thought to be the longest reconnaissance operation of the entire war. He survived and went on to fulfil the dream of playing, and later commentating on, cricket for Somerset. He is commemorated in the press box at the county ground a few hundred yards from my own home.

Those stories remind us that everyday folk get caught up in war and do extraordinarily courageous things. We owe it to those who serve to stand with veterans, to remember them and their sacrifice. It was therefore a privilege last week to take part in the debate on our Northern Ireland veterans. No veteran should ever be subjected to double jeopardy and pursued for doing no more than their duty.

I wish to bring to the Minister’s attention a veteran who desperately needs help—[Interruption.] I will write to the Minister about that veteran, who has only weeks to live.

[Adam Jogee]

I would be really interested in the hon. Member explaining a bit more about the veteran to whom he just referred.

[Gideon Amos]

I am extremely grateful to the hon. Member. Dr X served 25 years in the Royal Army Medical Corps and transferred to the NHS less than two years ago. He has been given the prognosis that he has only weeks to live, and because he has been in his transferred position with the NHS for less than two years he will lose his death benefits. I have written to the Secretary of State for Defence today and sent the letter to his office. I hope that Ministers will be able to look urgently at his case.

Those who served in world war two, including the pilots of the PRU who flew in silence, were part of the greatest generation. Their voices may increasingly be silent, but their legacy speaks volumes.

Oral Answers to Questions

Gideon Amos Excerpts

Monday 19th May 2025 Commons Chamber

[John Healey]

I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for that question. We will always work across parties in the national interest and in the interests of defence— I hope he is wrong that doing so may ruin my career. Nevertheless, I am grateful to him for noticing the £400 million investment in its Telford factory that Rheinmetall is announcing today. That is a direct response to the UK-German defence agreement that I signed in October, and it is confirmation that this is a Government who are delivering for defence.

[Gideon Amos (Taunton and Wellington) (LD)]

Somerset’s defence-related SMEs help to make the south-west the biggest region for defence after the south-east. Will the Secretary of State take a particular look at how SMEs are supporting Somerset Armed Forces Day? They are a backbone of that operation. Will he also look at the fact that Armed Forces Day is run by veterans and volunteers who sometimes do not receive funding until six months after they have held the event, and will he agree to support the biggest Armed Forces Day in the country, which is Somerset Armed Forces Day?

[John Healey]

There may be a competition for the title of the biggest Armed Forces Day event in the country—I refer the hon. Gentleman to my hon. Friend the Member for Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes (Melanie Onn). I am not sure whether his question was about SMEs or Armed Forces Day events, but I welcome the support that his small firms are giving to Armed Forces Day. From the centre, we are making sure that we can support local Armed Forces Day events where councils and local charities are willing to organise them. We are doing so right around the country, and I know the whole House will back those events, locally and nationally.

LGBT Veterans Independent Review

Gideon Amos Excerpts

Thursday 31st October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gideon Amos (Taunton and Wellington) (LD)]

I congratulate the hon. Member for Burnley (Oliver Ryan) on securing this debate—an excellent move. I also thank the Minister and you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for allowing me to speak, following a somewhat short-notice request.

I am confident that the House will come together today to recognise the service of many of our armed forces who were shockingly discriminated against and dismissed for nothing more than being who they are. The Liberal Democrat party constitution includes the belief that everyone should be free from poverty, ignorance and conformity. It is in that spirit that we on the Liberal Democrat Benches add our support to the recommendations of the Etherton review. I also add our support and thanks to the work of the organisations already listed that campaign for the rights of these people.

Five minutes from my house is the RAF cadet base, which I see on the way to the Army Cadet Force where I am an adult instructor. I confess that in coming into the Chamber and thanking the Minister, I am not sure whether I should be saluting or bowing—I am only a sergeant! What I want to say is that my constituent Mark Shepherd used to be a member of the RAF cadets in Taunton in my constituency and later went on to pursue the career he wanted as a technician.

Mark went on to see active service on the frontline with Tornados in the second Kuwait war and in Kosovo. But he was then questioned about his sexuality and presented with the option of either leaving immediately—immediate dismissal, from which he would have lost £6,000, a considerable sum of money for a young man at that stage in life—or the premature retirement route, which he had to take. That meant he had to stay in the service much longer in very difficult circumstances with a cloud hanging over him, when really all that should have hung over him was our nation’s gratitude for serving our country on the frontline and putting his life on the line.

I am delighted that this issue has come to the fore. I genuinely congratulate the hon. Member for Burnley on bringing it forward. I am absolutely delighted that in a few weeks in Taunton I will be presenting Mark with his RAF certificate to recognise the injustice that was done to him. It is my absolute privilege to have the opportunity to do that, and to explain and pay tribute to his service in this debate.