Without in any way denigrating the experiences and sacrifices of the men of Bomber Command I have often felt that the aircrews of Coastal Command have been somewhat overlooked in our view of air operations in WW2. I was once in the the RAF club when in the dining room was a gentleman celebrating his 90th birthday with his family. They were taking photos of the occasion and I offered to take one so they could all be in the picture. Seeing my nav tie the old chap told me he had been a nav on Wellingtons in Coastal Command during the war. His experience was one of seemingly endless uneventful flights over the Atlantic, with the ever present danger of losing one of their engines and the probability of ditching with a minimal chance of rescue. Not many medals and little glory or recognition - nobody has ever campaigned for a Coastal Command medal.