Sir - After the death on April 5, 1984, of Sir Arthur Harris, some of his former "old lags" and "erks", in desperation, designed and bought nearly 11,000 unofficial Bomber Command campaign medals (see www.awardmedals.com) to remind themselves, and perhaps their next of kin, of those perilous times when it seemed that an ungrateful nation had chosen to forget them, as it still does.

David Cameron, our Witney MP and Conservative Party leader pledged on March 4 to restore the bond between Britain and its armed forces saying the indifference and scorn of voters had helped break the military covenant. But his actions speak louder than his words. He discourages his MPs from supporting the Early Day Motion (EDM) 218 by Austin Mitchell MP in the Lower House and discourages those noble and gallant Lords in his party in the Upper House from openly expressing support for Sir Martin Gilbert's plea in The Daily Telegraph on March 13 for a Bomber Command Campaign Medal.

That article was a summary of his pamphlet "Winston Churchill and British Bombing Policy 1914-1945" dedicated to all who served in Bomber Command: in it he expresses his hope that they may, even now, more than 60 years after the end of the war, be granted a campaign medal. Given the freedom to vote and to speak as they would personally choose I think David Cameron's followers would encourage him to be brave, act in accord with his words, and encourage his members to support EDM 218. Another military historian, Max Hastings, in an article in the Daily Mail on Saturday, April 5, gave total support to EDM 218 and said: "It is not too late to make amends to some of its (Bomber Command's) bravest men".

Wg Cdr A J Wright DFC RAF (Ret), Abingdon