A LONG-OVERDUE honour for the bomber crews who helped stop Hitler's tyranny from sweeping into Britain is needed now.
That is the call from an author who has set his sights on a medal for the survivors of the Second World War who flew with Bomber Command 1 Group.
Patrick Otter's new book, Swift To Attack: 1 Group, Bomber Command's Unsung Heroes, is due out early in the new year.
It details the history of all those who served at airfields such as RAF Binbrook, Kelstern, Elsham, Ludford and Waltham.
Most of the squadrons' crews flew Lancaster bombers, but the group also operated Wellington bombers.
It is well-known that Lincolnshire was littered with military airfields during wartime, 46 in total, and 24 of them were devoted to the strategic air offensive against Hitler.
Bomber Command 1 Group was created in 1940 after the fall of France, and became the largest element of Bomber Command over the next five years.
The 1 Group lost about 9,000 servicemen, including Mr Otter's father, Bernard. He was just 32.
Mr Otter, of Immingham, a former assistant editor of the Grimsby Telegraph, and said it was "high time" the crews' sacrifice was honoured.
"What these men and women did was so important to defeat Hitler and all that entailed," he explained.
"Bomber Command was the only way of hitting back at Hitler. There was no second front until June 1944.
"It was the only way of taking the war to them. The sacrifice was immense. Bomber Command lost 55,000 airmen out of the 125,000 serving during the war.
"But after 1945, there was a sense of political correctness and the role of Bomber Command was largely overlooked.
"Winston Churchill barely recognised them. It is a terrible shame.
"The Atlantic convoy veterans have recently been honoured with a medal. It is still not too late. There are a handful of Bomber Command survivors.
"My father was one of the crew members killed.
"He got a medal for crossing the Atlantic on the Queen Mary to get his training in the US, but he received nothing for flying on missions to Berlin."
Bernard, a flying officer and navigator, was killed along with his crew on the 14th mission over Berlin when their bomber collided with another.
Mr Otter's latest book, published by Pen and Sword Books, is described as a "labour of love".
And it is one of the first about the RAF to acknowledge the role of Polish air crews. Many settled in northern Lincolnshire following the war, after the Russians took over their homeland.
