Hi Covec
Sorry to hear that you lost out to a great dane, their type rating and skippers experience probably more than made up for the fact that English was not their first language. Though no-one owes any of us a job, it must have been hugely frustrating to lose out at such a late stage.
Like you, I served in the military though I only completed 22 years, I was not aircrew (engineer), I served in the Fleet Air Arm rather than the RAF and the only honours I ever got were the standard chest full of campaign medals, long(ish) service and good(ish) conduct and jubilee medals etc.
Do you have a decent network of serving and ex aircrew who can help you out with information on future opportunities?
I wish you well in your continued search and genuinely hope that you find what you are looking for.