Loughborough fitness firm bounces into record books
Find out how a Loughborough-based fitness business managed to bounce its way into the record books during the Olympic torch relay.
Sam the Springer sent to Afghanistan
A soldier from Derbyshire and her four-year-old Springer spaniel are helping with security at an army base in Afghanistan.
Last surviving member of first Everest summit climb dies
The last surviving member of the first successful attempt to reach the summit of Everest has died at a nursing home in Derbyshire
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The man behind the Dambusters 'bouncing bomb' was from the Midlands
Sir Barnes Wallis – the engineer who designed the 'bouncing bomb' that destroyed German dams in 1943, was from Ripley in Derbyshire.
He was born in 1887 and died in Effingham, Surrey, in 1979.
Sir Barnes Wallis is still remembered across the Midlands: a pub is named after him in his birth town of Ripley; Nottingham Trent University has a building named after Wallis on Goldsmith Street; and there is also a Barnes Wallis Drive in Lincolnshire and Shropshire.
Dambusters veteran recalls famous 1943 raid
The only British surviving airman who took part in the 1943 Dambusters raid, George "Johnny" Johnson, has spoken to ITV News about his memories of the operation.
Mr Johnson - who was awarded a host of medals including the Distinguished Flying Medal - was a bomb-aimer whose mission was to target Germany's Sorpe Dam.
Despite his squadron's failure to breach the dam, he said there was a sense of achievement that they had damaged it.
He also described how, as they set course for home and flew over the Mohne Dam, what they saw boosted morale: "It was just like an inland sea. There was water everywhere".
"The defences by this time were non-existent...we had at least the satisfaction of seeing the damage that had been done. For that we were quite grateful."
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Inspirational words from one of the last Dambusters
One of the last survivors of the Dambuster raid is Johnny Johnson who lives in Lincolnshire.
He was a sergeant during the raid 70 years ago and has been awarded many medals including a Distinguished Flying Medal for his part in 617 Squadron's 1943 blitz on the Nazi-occupied dams along the Ruhr Valley in Germany.
The raids destroyed the Nazi's hydro-electric power source.
In an inspiring interview Johnny Johnson told ITV News Central why he is a lucky man.
In pictures: The WWII Dambusters operation
It is the 70th anniversary of one of the most famous air operations of World War II, the Dambusters raid.
Read the full storyFollow the telegraphy signals of the famous WWII Dambuster air raid
For the first time the Royal Air Force will today transmit the original wireless telegraphy signals of the famous Second World War 'Dambuster' air raid on the Ruhr valley dams on Twitter.
Today, the 70th anniversary of the raid, the tweets, which will substitute the original Morse code signals, will be posted on the RAF's official Twitter account @RoyalAirForceUK minute by minute as the raid occurred.
In addition tweets will be posted highlighting events that were unknown at the time, such as when aircraft were lost during the action.
70 Year anniversary of the Dambusters
It is 70 years since the 617 squadron formed as part of the Second World War before carrying out the daring attack on three defended dams in Germany, for which they became known as the Dambusters.
It was one of the most daring raids of the Second World War.
They flew from Lincolnshire to Nazi Germany to destroy dams and flood industries. The ultimate test for the bouncing bomb.
Its inventor Sir Barnes Wallis was immortalised in the movie The Dam Busters. Wallis died in 1979.
Although the raids made him a national hero, he remained deeply upset about the 53 men who died on this mission, a 40 per cent casualty rate.
His daughter Mary Stopes-Roe lives in Birmingham surrounded by an archive of many of his private papers.
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First F-Type rolls off production line
The first Jaguar F-Type made for customers has rolled off the production line in Castle Bromwich in Birmingham.
The new F-Type is designed to fill the gap left by the E-Type made in the 1970s.
The all new sports car resulted in contracts worth £2.8 billion being placed with companies internationally – with in excess of £1.5 billion placed with companies in the UK.
116 companies in the UK have benefited from the F-Type production and half of those are based in the West Midlands, including Coventry and Sutton Coldfield based Webasto, which supply the roof.
Jaguar say they plan to export over 75% of the cars produced in Birmingham with the USA expected to be the largest market.The cars start from £58,520.00 and have already gone on sale world-wide.
Production completed on new cars at Jaguar's Castle Bromwich plant
The first Jaguar F-Type cars will leave the Jaguar Land Rover's Castle Bromwich plant today, to showrooms around the world.
The F-Type was one of four new cars being built at the site, which has helped to secure hundreds of jobs at the plant and in the supply chain.
116 firms in the UK, of which half are based in the Midlands, were awarded contracts as part of the car's production.
Tariq Jahan's aid mission to Syria
A father whose son was killed during the 2011 riots in Birmingham, has travelled to Syria to deliver one million kilos of flour to the victims of the war.
Six million people face starvation after two years of fighting and Tariq Jahan says the pain of losing a child spurred him on to make the trip and help others. Victoria Davies reports.
