Warwickshire News Mine

44 year old John Giles was stationed at Coleshill Fire station and had rapidly made himself a pillar of the local community.

Starting as a retained firefighter six years ago, John became whole-time nearly two years ago and threw himself into the job.

A member of the trauma support team, a group of 15 volunteers, John provided support for the colleagues and families of the victims of the Atherstone-on-Stour tragedy from the night of the incident and continued unwaveringly through the following weeks in which the team carried out debriefs for over 500 personnel.  John and his colleagues received awards at the county council’s recent Gem Awards in recognition of their efforts.

As well as this, John volunteered to run the Coleshill branch of the Young Firefighters Association.  John organised fundraising events to pay for the annual trips to PGL adventure holidays where the young people had chance to have activity-based breaks.  His loss was keenly felt by the young people with one of them, Megan Jones, commenting:

“John was an inspiration to me.  Young Firefighters will never be the same without him.”

John also coached the Coleshill United under 8s football team and ran the local mini-soccer having recently obtained his FA coaching initiative certificate.  A lover of sports and the outdoors, John also held a scuba diving certificate and was due to fly in a glider, a task that will now be completed by partner Karen Moore.

Karen, who had lived with John for five years since meeting whilst both worked at the Bacon’s End Day Centre, was with him in Jamaica at the time of his death and speaks of a larger than life character.  She said: 

“John was a genuine man who always said it as he saw it.  But you couldn’t help but be his friend whether you’d known him for five minutes or for years.  He was the ‘bad boy done good ’.  He was loveable and unforgettable.”

The North Warwickshire Area Risk Manager, Paul Bagnall, who had known John since he became a retained firefighter also paid a warm tribute.

“John was an exceptional firefighter with an unstinting dedication to his colleagues and his community as his various voluntary initiatives indicates.  He won’t just be missed here at the station where he was a huge presence, but by colleagues and their families whom he helped and, especially, by the community’s young people to whom he gave his time and his knowledge so freely.”

Firefighter Loukas Dionysatis, who worked at Coleshill Fire Station with John Giles, added:

“John was committed and dedicated to his job as a firefighter and as a YFA Group Leader and Instructor.  He was always helpful and never put himself first, he was always there for everybody else, a role that naturally fitted him.  He enjoyed that role more when he became a Trauma Support Debriefer.

“Operationally John put his heart and soul into his work, not resting until the job was done.  He had the ability to raise even the dampest of spirits with his characteristic cheeky smile and fantastic sense of humour.

“His death which came 60 years too soon and has made us extremely sad.  John was our friend and colleague and we remember him as someone who lived each day to the fullest. 

"He never wasted a moment, he was always busy because he would never say no to anyone or anything and he was eager to experience everything he could.  But also despite being busy he always did everything with commitment and passion.  We were all so lucky to have him as a friend and colleague and his absence will be felt for the rest of our lives.

“Though we all grieve now we must always remember John as he looked at life, as an adventure which ended early but he made the most of every minute.”

Jennifer Cox co-ordinates the Trauma Support Team of which John was a well-liked and respected member of the team.

‘John was a valued member of the Trauma Support Team giving freely of his time to support others. He proved to be a natural in the role of debriefer with an inate ability to understand the varying needs of his colleagues after attendance at traumatic incidents. He will be sadly missed as a team member but more importantly, as a very good friend ‘

John is survived by partner Karen and her children Sian 16, Paige 14 and Kieran 7 years old as well as his own children Katie and Samantha.

John’s funeral service will be held at 12.30pm on Thursday 16 July at St Peters and St Pauls Church, Church Hill, Coleshill, Birmingham, followed by a short service at Woodlands Crematorium, Birmingham Road at 2pm.  Family flowers only and anybody wishing to make a donation can do so by
contributing to Coleshill fire station for a memorial in their garden.

Link to WCC