Officer attends Royal Albert Hall

PC Karl Turner was among a contingency of emergency service staff lucky enough to attend the Remembrance Festival at the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday.

The Leicestershire officer, who is also an Army veteran, volunteered his services to the special televised event which pays tribute to those who lost their lives in conflicts and is attended by the Queen and Prime Minister.

He was one of only two officers there to represent the police service from across the entire country.

This year’s event marked 75 years since the notable battles of 1944 including Monte Cassino, Kohima and Imphal, D-Day and the collaboration of Commonwealth and Allied forces.

It also celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) and paid tribute to RFA Mounts Bay which delivered supplies and aid to the Bahamas after Hurricane Dorian this year.

PC Turner, who has been with the force for 10 years, having spent 18 years prior to that with the Army in places including Bosnia, Northern Ireland and Iraq, said: “It was a huge honour. As an Army veteran, I would always want to mark Armistice Day and to represent the police at the Royal Albert Hall really was very special.

“My wife was able to be in the audience and I got to meet some people I haven’t seen in many a year and talk to the Chelsea Pensioners who had some sobering tales to tell.”

PC Turner added that he had always wanted to be a police officer but when he first tried to join as an 18-year-old in his hometown of Durham, he was sent away to get some “life experience” first.

He said: “Ten years ago while I was in California with the Army on an exercise, I saw an advert to join the Leicestershire Force. I was only four years from retiring at that point, but it was too good an opportunity to miss so I applied and have never looked back. I love my job.”