This is the Royal Air Force's Distinguished Flying Cross medal. It belongs to Megan's grandfather who earned it for "an act or acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying in active operations against the enemy"* during the Second World War. It's one of the R.A.F's highest decorations for bravery.
It's a little hard to tell, but the diagonal stripes are purple.
During his time in the R.A.F, Megan's grandfather piloted Spitfire fighter planes in the Battle Of Britain in 1940. He also flew Lancaster bombers (such as the model shown below) in other battles over Europe. In many of those cases his aircraft would be shot down and he is very lucky to have survived, and keep flying. All of his stories are fascinating because they are told from a first person view of notable historic events that no textbook could ever fully capture.
I've always been interested in history, and I like hearing stories from people who were actually there when history was being made. This can also be said for the veterans of today's wars who will be telling future generations stories of their time in the service.
Tomorrow, take a moment to honour our Veterans.
Both photos in this post were taken by me in September, 2006.
*Quoted from Wikipedia who quoted it from the British National Archives.
W.O 365
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