These were the welcoming words of 95-year-old Brenda Milner who cut the ribbon at a special opening ceremony of a top York hotel that has been renamed after her father, a local war hero.
Brenda was just 13 when her father William was killed in the devastating German bombing raid over York city centre on April 29, 1942.
William, aged just 42, was a foreman at York Railway Station and a member of the St John Ambulance. He was killed after going back into the office to retrieve a first aid kit during the bombing raid; his body was found clutching the first aid box.
The railway station was one of 9,000 buildings in the city damaged during the attack, which was also known as the Baedeker raid. More than 100 people were killed on that night.
William's courage is already commemorated in two plaques at York station - but his story and name will gain greater notoriety now that one of York's top hotels is being renamed in his honour.
The Principal - formerly the Station Hotel and The Royal York Hotel - has been renamed The Milner York this week.
RECOMMENDED READING:
- 'So proud of Uncle Billy' - York family's joy as hotel renamed after war hero
- York from the past: How a much-loved department store looked 100 years ago
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