I’m delighted to report that I’ve received a letter from my Member of Parliament Mr Edward Leigh, who has in turn heard back from the Ministry of Defence in connection with our request that the decision to not award Bomber Command with a dedicated campaign medal at the end of World War 2 be revisited.

The Right Honourable Andrew Robathan MP (Minister for Defence Personnel Welfare and Veterans) states in his letter:

“The (Honours and Decorations) Committee maintains a consistent policy that it will not consider the belated institution of awards or medals for service given many years earlier. The reason for this is that the present committee cannot put itself in the place of those who made the original decision and who would have had to take account of the views of all interested parties at the time. … A dedicated medal for Bomber Command was considered by the HD Committee at the time and it was decided that the institution of such a medal was not appropriate”

At this point I have to admit that my shoulders did drop slightly as I felt we were meeting the same brick wall that previous campaigns have met in years gone by, until I read further on in the letter ..

“The Coalition set out its intention in the Programme for Government, published in May 2010, to review the rules governing the award of medals as a part of its commitment to rebuild the Military Covenant. The review is nearing completion and the relevant elements of the draft report will shortly be sent to representatives of the various medal campaign groups, including those seeking a Bomber Command Medal. This will provide an opportunity for us to consider the views of the various interested parties. It would be inappropriate for me to comment on the outcome of the review until such representations received have been fully considered.”

I sincerely hope this represents a glimmer of hope that our remaining Bomber Command veterans will be appropriately honoured in their lifetime for their unwavering courage and bravery they displayed in defence of not only their country but of the freedom we all enjoy today.

These events may have taken place some seventy years ago but if it wasn’t for the contribution of the men and women of Bomber Command we would be leading very different lives today.

You can join our campaign by emailing us or else you can contact your MP at Write to Them to express your support for a dedicated campaign medal for Bomber Command.

In the meantime, when we hear more we will let you know!