Sir, Your readers may be interested to learn that earlier this year France offered to award the much admired Legion d’Honneur to surviving soldiers, sailors and airmen for their participation in 1944 in the D-Day assault on the Normandy beaches or on targets thereafter from June 6 to August 31, 1944.

The purpose of the invasion was to free France and other occupied countries in Europe from Nazi tyranny and to gain eventual victory in 1945. But there has been a hitch somewhere in Whitehall MoD and these awards have not so far arrived.

It would appear that the Canadians were briefed that only those who already had a gallantry award would be eligible, whereas no such warning had been made in our MoD statement. Naturally, many BC veterans may have inadvertently made useless applications. One has to wonder why this clause should have been regarded as essential in the first place but I believe that this may be the cause of delay.

BC veterans had been hoping that this French medal might serve as a consolation for the award they really wanted, but have so far been denied, of a British BC campaign medal.

It would now seem that they may die before receiving either.

Wing Commander Jim Wright

Abingdon