Help us keep the famous Dam Buster medals in the Waikato

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.