Whilst many arrived for Coronation celebrations in Manchester draped in Union Jack flags, one man’s outfit stood out more than most.
Steve Blackledge, a truckdriver from Chorley in Lancashire attended the screening in Piccadilly Gardens to celebrate not only the King – but also his beloved great grandfather.
Dressed in a World War one uniform he told Mancunian Matters the striking attire belonged to his late great grandfather.
“I wore it today because I am a very patriotic person. Being a retired firefighter I’m from a disciplined service and I’ve got great respect for the Royal Family.”
Blackledge’s great grandfather from Copple in Lancashire was tragically gassed in a tunnel system in the Battle of the Somme in France.
More than three million men fought in this battle, of whom one million were either wounded or killed, it has been named as one of the deadliest battles in all human history.
Although Blackledge’s great grandfather managed to escape the tunnel and was hospitalised, following his return to civilian life in England he died suddenly in 1949.
“He died because of the chlorine gas, it had taken its toll on his lungs, he was only in his fifties. He was special to me.
“The war might have finished thirty years previously, but it still killed him.”
Steve enjoyed the Coronation festivities with friends in Piccadilly Gardens.
Later, he joined his Ukrainian friends at their weekly rally.
The rally is held to ensure people remember what is happening in the Ukraine.
“The similarities to what went on in Ukraine daily, the fighting in the trenches were exactly what my great grandfather went through in France – they were fighting in the mud, in the rain, in the cold and it’s repeating itself again today in the 21st century.”
Steve met a handful of Ukrainian families through his part time job in a school when he worked as a firefighter.
“Now I know hundreds,” he said.
He will soon travel to the Ukraine to deliver medical trauma kits.
Steve thinks the new King has a big job ahead of him to reunite the public and bring our country back together.
“A lot of faith has been lost over the past few years; I think it’s going to be a difficult task, but I think he’s going to throw himself at it.”
