Help us keep the famous Dam Buster medals in the Waikato

$1,312 of $200,000 goal

Pledged by 30 generous supporters in 7 days

Help the Waikato Museum in Hamilton, New Zealand, save the Dam Buster medals collection from going to an overseas buyer.

Waikato

Help the Waikato Museum in Hamilton, New Zealand, save the Dam Buster medals collection from going to an overseas buyer.

The last remaining Dam Buster, 95-year-old Les Munro, a former Mayor of Waitomo, is selling his collection of medals at auction in London on March 25.

The medals include the Distinguished Service Order and the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Les, who was squadron leader, is the last surviving member of the Dam Busters.

The reason Les is selling his medals collection is so he can gift the funds raised by the auction to help maintain the Bomber Command Memorial in London’s Green Park.

The memorial, built 67 years after the dam raids, commemorates those from Bomber Command who were killed.

Waikato Museum is asking for your help to enable it to bid at the auction to bring these medals back home and to the region's museum.

We need to raise $200,000 so we can create a win win for Les and for New Zealand.

By helping us to be a serious bidder, we can make sure Les gets the money he needs to support the memorial and his important medals collection remains in New Zealand, in our regional Waikato Museum for future generations.

The raids by the Dam Busters in World War Two have gone down in history and the tale is to be made into a new movie by Sir Peter Jackson with Les Munro being a technical adviser to the film.

The bombing raid on the Ruhr Valley dams was carried out in 1943 using bouncing bombs developed by Barnes Wallis.

Fifty six of the 133 Royal Air Force crew did not return home.

Les piloted one of the bombers but had to turn his Lancaster back after it was hit by flack over Holland, savings the lives of his crew members by making this decision.

After the war Les farmed in the King Country, then set up his own Te Kuiti farm before serving on the Waikato District Council.

Les served as council chairman from 1978 to 1989 and as Mayor of Waitomo from 1989 to 1999.

He currently lives in Tauranga.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/66961669/Hero-to-the-end-Les-Munro-stands-by-decision

Notes:

If the $200,000 target is reached but we are unsuccessful at the auction, the funds raised will be donated to maintain the Bomber Command Memorial in London’s Green Park. Likewise, if we are successful at auction and obtain the medals for less than the $200,000 raised, the balance of funds will be donated for the upkeep of the Memorial.

Funds raised will be held in a legal trust account.

A small portion of funds raised will be used for the storage and security of the medals.

Waikato Museum - Tompkins Wake's involvement (page creator)

Waikato Museum is owned and operated by Hamilton City Council on behalf of the people of Hamilton.

Latest update

Dam Buster medal bid ends 13 March 2015

A Hamilton-based campaign on behalf of the Waikato Museum to bid at auction in London for the medals and log books of the last surviving member of the Dam Busters New Zealander, Les Munro, has ended.

The auction for the World War Two collection is taking place in London on March 25.

It is likely the medals will sell for in excess of $200,000, despite auction estimates of between $80,000 and $100,000 and go to a wealthy overseas collector.

The collection belongs to 95-year old retired squadron leader Les Munro, a former chairman and Mayor of the Waitomo District and Te Kuiti farmer.

Mr Munro is generously gifting all of the proceeds from the auction to the Bomber Command Memorial in London.

The Memorial, which was installed 57 years after the Dam Buster raids on the Ruhr Valley in Germany, commemorates the 55,573 pilots and air crew who lost their lives, including 1679 New Zealanders.

Former Hamilton Mayor Russ Rimmington and current deputy Mayor Gordon Chesterman set up the campaign because of their concerns that the collection would end up in the hands of an overseas buyer.

Had they been successful, the medals would have been returned to New Zealand and placed in the Waikato Museum.

They had targeted the nine local authorities in the region and regional philanthropic trusts for funding, as well as setting up a Give a Little website for public contributions.

Today, they said they had failed to get any positive response from the councils and the trusts and only $1100 had been raised from the public.

“Obviously, we are disappointed but we understand the reasons and we have to be realistic about achieving the funds we needed,” they said.

“Money is just so tight and when issues like this come up at the last minute there is no real opportunity to respond effectively.”

There was insufficient time to complete detailed applications and to fit in with decision-making deadlines and processes of the councils and trusts.

Emails announcing the decision have been sent to all councils, trusts and several individuals.

Mr Rimmington has also communicated the decision to Mr Munro.

Meanwhile, the Museum of Transport and Technology in Auckland (MOTAT) is proceeding with plans to bid for the collection in association with the Auckland War Memorial Museum, the Air Force Museum in Christchurch and the Otago Museum, and several corporates.

“We are happy to support MOTAT in its efforts and we hope the museum is successful in bringing this important collection back to New Zealand,” they said.

“We believe the collection belongs in the Waikato and at the Waikato Museum. At least we tried,” they said.

Now that the Hamilton bid has ended, the pair strongly believes that the Government should step in with the help of major corporates and get behind MOTAT.

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