D-Day hero’s battle to get bomber brother honoured
A D-DAY hero battling to have his dead brother’s bravery honoured says he is willing to give up his own medals to win the fight.
Denis Rose, 92, was decorated by Britain and given France’s highest honour for his role in the Normandy landings in June 1944.
But elder brother Peter was a pilot in the RAF on missions to Dresden, and was only 19 when he died flying above Hungary. He has been denied the Bomber Command Clasp, introduced in 2013, because he had been based in Italy and not the UK in the Second World War.
Now Denis has attacked the Ministry of Defence’s “silly rules” and says he’s determined his brother should be honoured. The great grandfather of West Kirby, Merseyside, served in the Royal Navy and has seven medals including the 3945 Star, Atlantic Star and Burma Star. He has spent the past year campaigning.
After joining up, his brother saw his family once on leave before he was sent to train in South Africa.
Sergeant Peter Rose, of RAF Volunteer Reserve, was stationed at Foggia, Italy, and flew Wellington bombers completing five missions before his death in 1944. He is buried in the Commonwealth War Graves cemetery at Solymar in Budapest. Denis, who was awarded the Legion d’Honneur, said his brother was “loaned out” to Italy and still deserves the award.
He added: “This is more important to me than my own medals. All I want is my brother’s clasp. Peter can’t speak for himself so it is up to me to speak for him.”
RAF Bomber Command suffered the highest casualty rate of the British personnel in the Second World War, losing 55,573 of the 125,000 who served.
An MoD spokesman said: “We fully recognise the debt of gratitude owed to all those who have served their country. Every medal and clasp has strict criteria.”