Maybe NZ could contribute?
The Telegraph reports:
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.
This brave and generous man is a Kiwi.
Sq Ldr Munro, from New Zealand, said: “The memorial is a magnificent tribute to Bomber Command’s fallen. It was a travesty it took 67 years before the loss of 55,573 lives was finally recognised.
“My reasons for donating my medals and flying log books to the fund were prompted by my visit. I could not help but think of the cost of its ongoing maintenance and with the feelings of the descendants of those 55,573 in mind believe that every effort be made to maintain the memorial in the best possible condition.
Rather than have Sq Ldr Munro feel forced to sell off his medals, maybe the NZ Government could contribute something?
Sq Ldr Munro learned to fly Lancaster bombers at below tree-top height at 200mph in preparation for the raid.
On one such flight over Lincolnshire, he was nearly killed when a seagull hit his cockpit windscreen “like a cannonball” and landed between him and his co-pilot.
He went on to practice for the mission over Derwent Water in the Lake District and the Fleet at Chesil Beach.
Two days after the Allied invasion of Europe, Sq Ldr Munro dropped the first “Tallboy” 12,000lbs bomb on a tunnel in southern France that enemy Panzer tanks were using to reinforce Germany army in Normandy.
He then led successful raids to wipe out E-boat and U-boat pens in Le Havre and Boulogne, successful missions that helped the Allied take control of Normandy and France.
After the war he returned to New Zealand, studied agriculture and worked for the State Advances Corporation which managed state-owned farms.
He got into local politics and served as mayor of Waitomo, a town on the northern island of New Zealand. He was appointed to the Queen’s Service Order (Q.S.O.) in 1991.
A great NZer.