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Another, 'Same Old Story' Tale ..........

Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2013 9:45 am
by K4KittyCrew
Again, the remaining RAF Bomber Command aircrew are having to justify themselves ................
John
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -base.html

World War Two veteran who flew 40 missions on Wellington bombers barred from receiving medal because he was flying from ‘wrong’ air base
Dennis Moss, 89, from Abergavenny, was based in Italy during the war
He worked as a wireless operator on deadly missions flying over Europe
UK government introduced Bomber Command Clasp this year for aircrew
Mr Moss told he's ineligible as served under Central Mediterranean Forces
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
PUBLISHED: 12:25 GMT, 6 August 2013 | UPDATED: 00:16 GMT, 7 August 2013
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Having taken part in 40 flying missions during the war, Dennis Moss was delighted when he heard that a special Bomber Command medal was to be awarded to those who risked their lives over Europe.
But now the 89-year-old has been told he does not qualify – because the bombers he flew in took off from Italy instead of Britain.
‘I am very disappointed,’ he said yesterday. ‘It shouldn’t make any difference where people were based. RAF airmen who served as crew should be recognised in the same way. It is not just for myself but for those brave men we lost.’
Wireless operator Dennis Moss, 89, has been told he's not eligible for a Bomber Command Clasp as he was based in Italy
Wireless operator Dennis Moss, 89, pictured with other medals he has won, has been told he's not eligible for a Bomber Command Clasp as he was based in Italy
Mr Moss was a wireless operator in RAF Wellington and Liberator bombers between April 1944 and the end of the war, attacking German lines in Italy and heavily-defended airfields in Romania and Greece.
He also helped to supply partisans in Yugoslavia. He was among hundreds of RAF crew based in Italy with the Central Mediterranean Forces.

A great-grandfather, Mr Moss said: ‘We were fighting the same war and were over enemy territory up against the same opposition and fighter planes. When people flew off on missions you never knew if you would see them again – and every time you went out you were aware that you might not come back.

‘There was a memorial to Bomber Command inaugurated by the Queen in London last year. Does this ruling by the Ministry of Defence mean the memorial doesn’t recognise the people who, like me, flew out from bases outside Britain? There doesn’t seem to be any logic to their thinking.’
Mr Moss, from Abergavenny, South Wales, served with 40 Squadron, 178 Squadron and 37 Squadron.
He applied earlier this year for the new Bomber Command Clasp but was turned down and lost an appeal to try to get the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency to reverse the decision.
His MP David Davies has now taken up his case. He said: ‘This is stupid bureaucracy. All those who served as aircrew should be remembered in the same way.
‘If it wasn’t for the courage of men like Mr Moss then we would probably still be living under a dictatorship.
‘Either the eligibility criteria for the Bomber Command Clasp should be extended to those who flew under the command of Central Mediterranean Forces or they should have their own clasp.’
A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence said it was awaiting the conclusions of an independent medal review, ‘so we would be unable to comment on this issue further’.
Working as a wireless operator on Wellington bombers like this one, front, Dennis Moss flew scores of missions
Working as a wireless operator on Wellington bombers like this one, front, Dennis Moss flew 40 missions
THE BOMBER COMMAND CLASP - AND SOMEONE ELSE WHO DIDN'T GET IT
The Arctic Convoy star medal, for those who served in the Arctic, and the Bomber Command Clasp beneath it
The Arctic Convoy star medal, for those who served in the Arctic, and the Bomber Command Clasp beneath it
Designed to be worn on the ribbon of the 1939-1945 Star, the Bomber Command Clasp is granted to the aircrew of Bomber Command who served for at least 60 days, or completed a tour of operations, on a Bomber Command operational unit and flew at least one operational sortie on a Bomber Command operational unit between September 3 1939 and May 8 1945.
Members of Bomber Command aircrew who died, were taken prisoner or were wounded before they could complete the requirements are still eligible, as are foreign nationals who were commissioned into the British or Dominion Air Forces.
Those who believe they are eligible for the award, details of which were announced in February this year, or their next of kin, can apply to the Ministry of Defence for the Bomber Command Clasp.
Last month a World War Two veteran who flew over Nazi Germany was told he was ineligible for the Clasp because his service was eight days too short.
John Joyner, 89, of Cromer, Norfolk, was a gunner with Bomber Command from March 18 1945 until the Germans surrendered on May 8 of that year.
He had served for 52 days - short of the 60 required by the Bomber Command Clasp eligibility criteria - and so his application and subsequent appeal were turned down by the Service and Personnel Veterans Agency.
Mr Joyner, who holds the War Medal 1935-1945 and France Germany Star, said: 'It's a nonsense and it's nit-picking


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Re: Another, 'Same Old Story' Tale ..........

Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2013 5:44 am
by AlanW
Turning into a bit of a fiasco if you ask me. Obvious "tunnel vision" on behalf of whoever set the criteria for giving them out, and did'nt realise that Bomber Command did not only operate over Europe. Perhaps he/she, is one of those, who back in 1982, thought that the Argentinians had invaded some islands off Scotland.