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After serving in the RAF, Les became a school teacher and headmaster and then a reader for the London University in the education department. Mark believes that sharing family stories – however harrowing they may be – is much better than the stiff upper lip approach and not talking about war experiences. Otherwise, these family stories are lost.
“When I was a little boy, my father would tell me stories about his aeroplane. He was an air gunner and he would tell me about the guns. Magical stuff when you are 6. Then he would get his log book out and would say I remember this day when we did this. I was absolutely riveted by these stories. And then at my nan’s house at the top of the stairs there was a cupboard and in it was my dad’s uniform. My Dad’s sergeant stripes and his medals were in a cardboard box.
“One day, after getting out the medal box, my Nan said, ‘if you promise to look after them you can take them home’.”
That was when I made my first medal display and I’ve been collecting ever since.
“We began by going out to old junk shops and we bought the odd medal. In 1973 my Dad bought me a poster with every British medal from 1793-1973. Ninety-five medals on a poster. And we decided that we would collect each of them and that’s how I got started.”
After our museum tour we go for a light lunch at the new Raffles Hotel on Whitehall across the street from Horse Guards. The building is the former War Office where Churchill used to operate. As we enter the building, I can see Mark is excited. “I used to work here in the ’90s,” he says. What did you do, I ask, as we head to the Guards Bar. “I can’t tell you,” he says, “Other than the floor hasn’t changed.”
The RAF Benevolent Fund is one of four charities supported by this year’s Telegraph Christmas Charity Appeal. The others are Go Beyond, Race Against Dementia and Marie Curie. To make a donation, please visit telegraph.co.uk/2023appeal or call 0151 284 1927.
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