Dambuster medals sold for £148,000 at auction

Updated



A set of medals belonging to a Dambuster pilot has fetched a record price at auction.

The Distinguished Flying Cross and Distinguished Flying Medal were awarded to Flight Lieutenant Richard Dacre Trevor-Roper, who flew as Rear Gunner in the leading Lancaster that attacked the Mohne Dam.

These medals were put up for auction by relatives alongside WWI medals awarded to his father, Major Charles Cadwaladr Trevor-Roper.

It was initially thought the collection would fetch somewhere in the region of £40,000 to £60,000, but an unnamed British buyers snapped them up for £148,000.

Description of his bravery

According to Lt Trevor-Roper's recommendation for the Flying Cross, his aircraft was "subjected to stiff opposition from flack defences situated along the top of the dam.

"By using his rear guns with great skill, even though bullets were passing through the rear structure of the aircraft just behind him, he succeeded not only in deterring the aim of the defences but later in drawing the fire away from other aircraft which were actually making their bombing runs."

He was killed in action a year later when his Lancaster was shot down over Nuremberg in 1944, aged 28.

Dambuster Veteran Remembers the Historic Raids
Dambuster Veteran Remembers the Historic Raids


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