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Bomber Command Petition - please help

There's a discussion about this on another forum that I visit from time to time, and I think the most enlightening comment was this one:

The Bomber Command clasp hasn't gone to the airmen serving In Italy during the war because aircraft and crews, including strategic bomber forces, serving in the med and North Africa during the War were not part of bomber command. Up until 1943 and operation husky they were part of the DAF, (desert airforce) from mid 43 and operation husky they were part of the Mediteranian Air Command, and after December 1943 they were part of the Mediteranian Allied Air Force.

These were entirely seperate commands to Bomber command, which was entirely UK based and fought a different war
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I believe there were separate Campaign medals for people who served in the Med and elsewhere, and for them to be claiming the Bomber Command clasp would be a bit like someone who had served in the Far East laying claim to the Atlantic Star.....
 
Thanks for the information jay hay-char. Did they say what he did get?
Sign if you want or don't if you disagree cheers.
 
I don't know, I'm afraid. Air operations in the Med were led by the US, so they may have organised the campaign medals as well

I think that people who risked their lives defending Britain deserve every honour we can give them, particularly bomber crews who had a very poor survival rate. However I don't think the Government will give way on this one because it would provide a precedent for other, similar cases - like my Atlantic Star analogy.

But mighty respect to him and his comrades in arms, in any event.
 
You've worded that much better than I could. I wonder if it's because the Atlantic star and the others are obvious about where they served but this one not so much. Don't know.
I just know he was on the local news campaigning and I thought give him it. I don't have to tell you I know but we wouldn't have the life we have now without that generation and everything they had to live through.
If he wants a bar for risking his life everyday during that time I'm grateful and he can have it.
My grandad was in the merchant navy during the war and served on unarmed ships doing supply runs. He was torpedoed a number of times and had to abandon ship twice (I believe). It took years for the merchant fleet to be recognised and given campaign medals.
So I think it should happen.
 
Mrs Vimes said:
You've worded that much better than I could. I wonder if it's because the Atlantic star and the others are obvious about where they served but this one not so much. Don't know.
I just know he was on the local news campaigning and I thought give him it. I don't have to tell you I know but we wouldn't have the life we have now without that generation and everything they had to live through.
If he wants a bar for risking his life everyday during that time I'm grateful and he can have it.
My grandad was in the merchant navy during the war and served on unarmed ships doing supply runs. He was torpedoed a number of times and had to abandon ship twice (I believe). It took years for the merchant fleet to be recognised and given campaign medals.
So I think it should happen.
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If there isn't something in place already, then I agree, there should be, but probably a separate Med Air Ops medal, rather than the Bomber Command Clasp. Yes, it took ages for the Merchant Navy to get recognition of their bravery, with the recent award of a Russian Convoy star just the latest of a series. Jeremy Clarkson (of all people :)) did a very fine documentary about Convoy PQ 17, which really brought home what it must have been like for the kids (and most of them were only kids) crewing the merchant ships on the Murmansk convoys.

I once had a colleague who had been on the Russian convoys as a lad and he was, let's say, always assertive in standing his ground. I had a quiet chat about it with him once, but it was a tricky one to pull off convincingly because I'd just told his boss that, given what he'd gone through, he deserved to be able to behave as he wanted. I have a sneaking suspicion that word got back to him about this, because his obvious suspicion of me (I was the HR Director) suddenly disappeared, one day.
 
I'll look out for that documentary - cheers. Grandad (the al fella - not to his face) never, ever spoke about it. Some campaign medals arrived after he died. We found out things at family does when the older aunties and uncles had drank a few.

That was a lovely thing you did for that bloke.
 
It's on YouTube:


Well worth watching when there's nothing on the telly - or even when there is.
 
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