Last surviving Dambusters pilot sells medals for upkeep of Bomber Command Memorial

Locutus

Adorable Deplorable
Jun 18, 2007
32,230
45
48
65
Squadron Leader Les Munro hopes to raise £50,000 from sale of medals to go towards newly-built London memorial to airmen killed during Second World War

The last surviving Dambusters pilot is to sell his gallantry medals awarded for the famous raid and donate the proceeds to the Bomber Command Memorial fund.

Squadron Leader Les Munro hopes to raise £50,000 from the sale, which will go towards the upkeep of the newly-built memorial dedicated to the 55,573 airmen killed during the Second World War.

Among them will be the Distinguished Flying Cross for bravery, which brought a tragic twist of fate for Sq Ldr Munro.

When his mother opened the door to an official delivering an unopened telegram with news of his award, she feared the worst and collapsed with an aneurism and died within a week.

After being given the devastating news, Sq Ldr Munro was offered the chance to be taken off bombing operations, but declined.

The 95-year-old visited the monument in London's Green Park in 2013 and said he was inspired to make the sacrifice "out of comradeship" to his fellow servicemen who did not made it back.

Sq Ldr Munro said it was important for the memorial to maintain its condition for the relatives of the thousands of men listed on it and future generations.

The monument was built 67 years after the end of the war to commemorate the RAF aircrew and groundstaff from Britain and Commonwealth countries who died on bombing operations in the war.

The charity, the RAF Benevolent Fund, has the duty to pay for its maintenance and upkeep at a cost of £50,000 a year.

Out of the 19 commanding officers who flew on the famous 1943 raid to destroy three dams in Germany's industrial heartland, Sq Ldr Munro is the last one alive today.

Eight them were killed during the mission, making up the total of 53 out of 133 crew killed.

Despite the losses, the raid - codenamed Operation Chastise - was a success with two dams breached by Dr Barnes Wallis' ingenious bouncing bombs, wiping out scores of armament factories in the Ruhr Valley.

Sq Ldr Munro's Lancaster bomber was struck by an anti-aircraft flak shell on the raid over Holland, knocking a gaping hole in the fuselage and putting all communications out of use, forcing the crew to turn back still carrying its mine.

He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for the raid. Sq Ldr Guy Gibson, who led the mission, received the Victoria Cross.

Sq Ldr Munro was also awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for bravery shown during 58 sorties over Europe.



more


Last surviving Dambusters pilot sells gallantry medals for upkeep of Bomber Command Memorial - Telegraph
 

Blackleaf

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 9, 2004
48,322
1,649
113
He's a Great British hero.

It's just a shame that it wasn't until 28th June 2012 - 67 years after the end of the war - that the Bomber Command Memorial in London's Green Park (between Hyde Park and St James's Park) was unveiled.

 

EagleSmack

Hall of Fame Member
Feb 16, 2005
44,168
95
48
USA
Idolatry will not stand for such display in the new UK. This will be smashed by the new masters of the UK within 20 years.
 

billshaver

Electoral Member
Sep 7, 2015
110
0
16
I did not know they were his to sell, the medals are awarded to the squadron, unlike in usa where they went to the individual...
 

Blackleaf

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 9, 2004
48,322
1,649
113
I did not know they were his to sell, the medals are awarded to the squadron, unlike in usa where they went to the individual...


No, they're his medals. Although it's a shame that war heroes are having to do such things when the country they risked their lives for won't look after them properly.
 

Blackleaf

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 9, 2004
48,322
1,649
113
Goes to show some people just can't move on with their lives.


These are heroes who risked their lives to ensure that Europe doesn't live under the Nazi jackboot. Please show some respect and recognise that these great men deserve to be honoured.
 

MHz

Time Out
Mar 16, 2007
41,030
43
48
Red Deer AB
The dam busters were not in the thick of the battle. How many civilians died when the dam broke? They were honored back when they completed the mission, rather than being kept in a time loop they should have moved onto other missions, ones that actually helped people.
 

darkbeaver

the universe is electric
Jan 26, 2006
41,035
201
63
RR1 Distopia 666 Discordia
cue the tiny violins idiots worried about a war memorial for a war long past while todays idiots are engaged in the present war to end all wars, and not a peep about that looming potential to generate more heros dead and alive which will inevetably result in more dishonest bullsh it memorials
 

Blackleaf

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 9, 2004
48,322
1,649
113
The dam busters were not in the thick of the battle.

Fifty-three of the 133 Dambusters were killed during the very dangerous operation.

How many civilians died when the dam broke?
1,600 civilians were killed - give or take a few - when the Dambusters breached the Möhne and Edersee dams using their INGENIOUS bouncing bombs in 1943: 600 Germans and 1,000 mainly Soviet forced-labourers.






They were honored back when they completed the mission, rather than being kept in a time loop they should have moved onto other missions, ones that actually helped people.
Prior to World War II, as war looked likely, the British had actually identified Germany's heavily industrialised Ruhr Valley, and especially its dams, as important strategic targets: in addition to providing hydro-electric and pure water for steel-making, they also supplied drinking water and water for the canal transport system. By attacking the dams, the British managed to drastically reduce the area's industrial output and forced the Germans to commit much of their labour and strategic resources into repairing the dams rather than using them for other means which were vital for German victory.
 

AnnaG

Hall of Fame Member
Jul 5, 2009
17,507
117
63
Prior to World War II, as war looked likely, the British had actually identified Germany's heavily industrialised Ruhr Valley, and especially its dams, as important strategic targets: in addition to providing hydro-electric and pure water for steel-making, they also supplied drinking water and water for the canal transport system. By attacking the dams, the British managed to drastically reduce the area's industrial output and forced the Germans to commit much of their labour and strategic resources into repairing the dams rather than using them for other means which were vital for German victory.
I didn't think you had the English skills to write as well as that. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Chastise
 

Blackleaf

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 9, 2004
48,322
1,649
113
Riviting stuff Blacklung, why don't you talk about SAS wondering arround Syria dressed as ISIS terrorists. Where's the memorial for that great campaigne going?

When the SAS defeat ISIS (because we ALL know it'll be the SAS who will defeat them; the Yanks aren't doing much) there will be medals all round, don't you worry about that.
 

AnnaG

Hall of Fame Member
Jul 5, 2009
17,507
117
63
Here's the resident expert on the Dambusters raids.
hahaha I never said anything about the dambusters. You copy and pasted from Wikipedia about them. I know very little about them except they used Lancasters, Lincolns, and Vulcans and probably a few other planes. Nowhere did I claim to be an expert, so grow a brain.
"Ahh, whatta maroon" - Bugs Bunny
 

Blackleaf

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 9, 2004
48,322
1,649
113
hahaha I never said anything about the dambusters. You copy and pasted from Wikipedia about them. I know very little about them except they used Lancasters, Lincolns, and Vulcans and probably a few other planes. Nowhere did I claim to be an expert, so grow a brain.
"Ahh, whatta maroon" - Bugs Bunny


Well I didn't claim to be an expert either.
 

Curious Cdn

Hall of Fame Member
Feb 22, 2015
37,070
6
36
The ultimate dam busters raid would be to breech the Aswan High Dam in Egypt, releasing a huge tsunami from Lake Nasser that would sweep down the Nile Valley, where most Egyptians live ... some 60 million including 9 million in Cairo alone. The Israelis could pull it off with just one or two bunker busting conventional bombs, potentially killing millions. It is far deadlier than what they could do with their nukes in Egypt. I would guess that this is why Sadat made peace with Israel at Campo David, years ago.
 

Blackleaf

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 9, 2004
48,322
1,649
113
No we don't need help from the Yanks. The SAS are in there doing what the SAS - the best special forces in the world - are good at: killing the bad guys.

As for these drones (Britain's military is to double the number of drones it has and is switching from Reaper to Predator), almost every single armed force in the world has at least one bit of equipment that was made abroad.

The American military, for example, is testing a new type of navigation technology that was developed in Britain in the hope that it that could prevent criminals from hijacking its vessels with GPS jamming attacks. America's GPS is widely acknowledged to be vulnerable to attack. Because of this, the Yanks are now testing Britain's eLoran system. eLoran signals are more resistant to jamming than GPS signals because they are around a million times stronger, and the beacons are also much closer to the receiver than a satellite would be. This means that a jammer would have to emit an extremely powerful signal to drown out eLoran.

In this area of defence, the Americans are having to rely on British technology.

Is that why you C&P from other sources without crediting them? lol You're funny.
99.9 times out of a hundred I do credit them.

I still, however, do consider myself to be very knowledgeable on historical and current events due to copious amounts of reading of proper books, rather than some third rate celebrity's autobiography.