Intriguing. No Aircrew Europe Star more or less rules out Bomber Command (I may be wrong there)

No bar on the Africa star may not be significant as they appear to be miniatures. The Atlantic Star would tend to point towards Coastal Command Wouldn’t it? Also, the issue of no further Campaign medals tend to suggest his operational career ended somewhere in the Middle East.

Coastal does look likely. Might be worth getting in touch with the guy who wrote Coastal Command Losses. I think he has posted on here before, Ross something or other?

Skypilot. Let me know if I’m treading on your toes only i tend to be a bit like a dog with a bone.

Regards,

kev35

Kev, if you’re like a dog with a bone then we share the same attitude, and considering I’m asking for assistance, you’re most certainly not treading on my toes – I appreciate the help! I love a good mystery to sink my teeth into and gathering all the bits of info. It would be smashing to find that Ben is still alive and well, but the march of time etc…..

I spoke to my mum and the photographers is long gone and she couldn’t even recall sending me the picture let alone where Ben was from!

Miniatures could/did have bars – kind of a slip-on/slider type affair but as you say, not too significant in itself as they were easily lost. With the Atlantic star there’s got to be a coastal command element somewhere (would be great if it was 90 sqdn’s Forts!), perhaps Sunderlands is going to be favourite? That said, to earn a caterpillar whilst on Sunderlands would be less likely than say Wellingtons which were used by costal command and saw service in the middle east. Again, not conclusive but a possibility. For European ops you would expect to see an Air Crew Europe or France & Germany bars (you couldn’t have the Atlantic and the other medals, just bars) on an Atlantic star and as there is no bar on his miniature Africa, perhaps he’s also missing a bar from his Atlantic – again, not likely but all possibilities.

I’ve sent an e-mail to the records officer at Irvin in Herts as they state they have records for every award so that may will turn up something conclusive. The Guinea Pig lists show 3 chaps with the surname “Lee” but non with “B” as an initial. Of course, Ben could also be a nickname which would complicate matters further!

Certainly alot further forward than this time yesterday when I re-discovered the photo! Again, thanks one and all for the help so far.

Dean

Thanks alot chaps, I’m touched that you’ve gone to so much trouble.

I too am fairly certain that the third medal is the africa star, but it has no bar on it which most (although not all) aircrew I’ve met tended to have. The second ribbon looks more Atlantic than italy, and as has been said, wrong order.

Regarding the caterpillar badge, you could be on to something there. I always thought it looked like a loose thread but I’ll enlarge it to see. That would certainly help. No immediate joy with the Guinea Pig Club (the web is full of furry creature links but few to anything that really matters!!)

The only info I have is what I mentioned. The photo (sent by my mum whilst I was away from home says that he suffered 90% burns “during the war” and “he’d love to talk to you about his experiences” and nothing more than that. I just feel I ought to follow it up even though belatedly. There’s not a single veteran who doesn’t deserved to be listened to.

See also here:-

http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/astamps.htm

http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/partmanu.htm

http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/partaircraft.htm

Geoff

Superb Geoff – nicely fills in alot of my gaps, cheers!