TTN:
I was somewhat saddened by a letter in today's Times from a Bomber Command veteran, a holder of the DFC, who was stating his opinion that whereas the Arctic veterans would appear to be getting a medal, the Bomber Command chaps were only to get a clasp to their star, which he described as "adding insult to injury"
I'm not quite sure what it is that you are criticising, TTN. Was he correct in stating that the Arctic veterans are to get a new Star, whereas the Bomber ones get a clasp? If that is the case I would echo his sentiments and would criticise not him but those who had come up with this "solution". What is it about the European Bombing Campaign that sets it apart from the other major ones in that Theatre to be denied a Campaign Medal in its own right? The loss rate was just shy of 50%. With all due respect to every other Campaign in WWII, none of them approached that. I remain convinced that it was a combination of inter Service jealousy (and inter Command?) and what would now be termed "Political Correctness" that denied Harris the gong for his Old Lags, and not simply that:
PN:
they wanted to limit the total number of campaign stars?