Sir – Geoff Raebel’s father (Bob Raebel) was an Australian soldier of the King in the Second World War.

He arrived in the UK via an Atlantic Convoy in November 1941 to serve in 455 (RAAF) Squadron. In 1942, he volunteered to be fifth man on a Hampden flight to the Eastern Front near Murmansk and spent three months there firstly as a Flight Sergeant and then left to train the Russians on servicing the Hampdens before getting his crew out on HMS Intrepid on an Arctic Convoy.

In 1943, with Coastal Command he flew with his aircraft to out-stations variously at Wick, Shetland and Reykjavik. Things got serious in 1943 when he was posted as Engineering Officer to form 463 (RAAF) Squadron. That was a hard slog for two years to keep maximum availability of Lancasters day after day, night after night, up to and after the end of hostilities.

Geoff very much regrets that neither his father nor the teams of fitters he commanded, who made D-Day possible by keeping the aircraft available for a second aerial front over Axis Europe, received due recognition for their service and sacrifice. These men were cleared out of UK hastily at the end of hostilities and given only the basic set of war medals as if they never left home.

 

As a Bomber Command navigator and survivor myself who served in three wartime Lancaster squadrons in 1943/44, I respectfully agree with Geoff Raebel and consider, as he and so many others do, that Bomber Command air and essential ground crews, deserve to be properly recognised by the award of a full campaign medal.

Jim Wright, Abingdon