Hero’s stolen medal returned... 50 years on
THE family of an RAF hero, whose war medal was stolen during a break-in at his home, have been reunited with it after 50 years.
Rear gunner Douglas Higham was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1945 after completing 160 perilous Second World War missions with 514 Squadron.
He took part in the rescue of Yugoslavia’s royal family and helped airlift 78 servicemen from Crete. His medal, with a letter from King George VI was taken in a raid in 1964. He never saw it again and died in 1986, aged 66.
Son John, 73, was offered a medal for £1,450 as he researched his family history. He was stunned to find it was his father’s.
John, of Standish, Lancs, said: “Dad would be amazed. The dealer bought it in good faith. It’s a lump of cash, but I don’t care.”