AN Oxfordshire war hero has asked his MP to support his calls for Bomber Command veterans to receive a campaign medal.

Jim Wright, 91, of Gibson Close, Abingdon, wrote to Nicola Blackwood, Conservative MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, last month to ask her to raise the issue in the House of Commons.

In December 2012, the Government awarded Bomber Command veterans a bronze clasp to attach to their Second World War campaign medal – the 1939-45 Star.

But the former RAF navigator labelled this an “insignificant miserable little clasp” and said his comrades deserved a proper campaign medal.

Mr Wright said: “I have continued to write letters to my constituency MP to argue that our PM made a genuine mistake and that a full campaign medal would have been a more appropriate award.

“We need urgent corrective action from Westminster if our supporters are to win our battle for the medal before we all die.”

Mr Wright has campaigned for nine years for a full medal for those who served in Bomber Command.

The clasp was awarded on the same day Arctic convoy veterans received a campaign medal – the Arctic Star.

Mr Wright said: “They deserved it – but the question is why did Bomber Command not have a full campaign medal?

“I looked at this clasp and though ‘you must be joking’.”

Mr Wright took up the cause after attending a Second World War commemoration service in Denmark in May as a guest of honour.

He has represented 630 Squadron at the service near the village of Skarrild since 2002 after a Lancaster was shot down near there in August 1944.

He said: “The Danes made a fuss of us. We were heroes, make no mistake about it.

“This year I was the sole representative with my son Neil and we were given a hero’s welcome.”

Some say Bomber Command has a controversial legacy, after raids on Dresden and Hamburg killed thousands of civilians in firestorms. But Mr Wright said they were necessary to defeat Hitler’s Third Reich.

He said: “Stalin had nominated certain targets and one was Dresden. There were others, but it was known from the military intelligence point of view to be a transport hub.

“It was an obstacle that deserved to be bombed, if only to help win the war against Hitler.”

Ms Blackwood has written to Defence Minister Philip Hammond and Prime Minister David Cameron to highlight Mr Wright’s campaign.

She said: “I have nothing but admiration for Jim in his tireless efforts to gain a full medal for all those who so bravely served with him in Bomber Command.

“I will do all I can to keep up the pressure.”

Mr Wright served with squadrons 61, 630 and 97 during the war as a Flight Lieutenant. He was later promoted to Wing Commander and stayed in the RAF until 1976.

He flew 43 wartime missions and was awarded the Pathfinder Badge and the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Bomber Command suffered 55,573 killed out of its total of 125,000 aircrew. Veterans and relatives of veterans who have passed away can apply for the clasp.

  • Our top stories: