Originally Posted by
Tankertrashnav
I was on a parade at Catterick around 1965 when a chap got the BEM for gallantry. I am not sure if this was the same chap but I think his name was Hobbs. One incident I definitely remember, in those pre-velcro days the AOC did not pin the medal on securely, and as the airman saluted and did a smart about turn the medal flew off his chest and skidded across the hangar floor! Incidentally there were 19 MMs for Aden between 1964 - 1968 and whilst I do not know of any awarded to RAF Regiment personnel, I certainly knew a Sqn Ldr B.P.Coote, MC, RAF Regiment who had won his medal in Aden.
Turning to the DFC/DFM and their relative scarcity, including first and second bars there were almost 23,000 awards of the DFC during WW2, making it the commonest gallantry award for that conflict by a country mile, across all three services. The equivalent figure for the DFM is just under 6,700, less than a third of the total DFCs. In spite of this, from my own experience in the medal trade groups containing the DFC always attract a premium over similar DFM groups. Why this should be so I have never quite understood, but there you are, that's the way it is.
Without wishing to denigrate your service, as I am sure your SAM was well deserved, that is factually incorrect. SAMs with rosettes always fetch more on the market than those without, When valuing medals, scarcity is never as important as desirabilty. The best example I can think of is the Victoria Cross which is 10 times commoner than the George Cross, but will always sell for far more money
Thanks
TTN, that's good to know. All I have to do now is find the thing.