Hope for hero's medals

Les Munro pictured with a sketch done by Britain's Royal portrait painter, Richard Stone. Photo / Alan Gibson

Museums are plotting an 11th-hour bid to keep a Kiwi war hero's precious medals in New Zealand.

Four museums have formed a consortium to stop medals belonging to the last surviving Dambuster pilot from falling into the hands of private overseas collectors.

The medals and other memorabilia belong to 95-year-old Les Munro who is auctioning them to help pay for the upkeep of the Bomber Command Memorial in London.

Michael Frawley, Museum of Transport and Technology (Motat) chief executive, said the museums were approaching corporate sponsors to see what sort of financial package they could put together.

"The huge contribution Mr Munro, his colleagues and the entire Bomber Command made to World War II cannot be emphasised enough. Our museums will continue to highlight their valour, commitment and sacrifice."

The medals - including the Distinguished Service Order and the Distinguished Flying Cross - are expected to sell for about $100,000 at auction on March 25.

Munro said he was committed to seeing the money go to the memorial to his fallen comrades in London. But his decision has attracted criticism and calls for the medals and flying log books to be kept here.

The Ministry for Culture and Heritage is reviewing whether the memorabilia qualify as protected objects, and can be prohibited from leaving the country. A decision is expected at the end of next week.

But Minister Maggie Barry said that power was a last resort and rarely used. She was backing the consortium of Motat, the Auckland War Memorial Museum, Christchurch's Air Force Museum and Otago Museum. "I am confident that the right people are assessing whether they can raise the money to buy the medals to be kept in New Zealand," she said.

The Bomber Command Memorial at Green Park commemorates the 55,573 dead of Bomber Command, including 1679 New Zealanders. Money from the Munro auction will go to the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund, which is responsible for the memorial's upkeep.

Frawley, who is also working with the RSA and NZ Bomber Command Association, said the consortium held a deep admiration for Munro's altruistic aims.

Munro was a member of the elite 617 Dambusters squadron for the legendary raid in May 1943.

He was forced to turn his Lancaster bomber back after flak destroyed the plane's communications systems and was credited with saving the lives of those on board.

He took part in important precision raids and on the eve of D-Day played a central role in an operation that fooled the German forces into thinking an invasion fleet was sailing towards Calais, rather than Normandy.