Dambuster medals fetch record £148,000 at auction

MEDALS awarded to an airman who flew on the Dambusters raid in 1943 have sold for a record £148,000.

Richard Trevor-Roper and telegramBNPS

Flight Lieutenant Richard Trevor-Roper and a telegram from King George VI to his mother

The decorations won by Flight Lieutenant Richard Trevor-Roper were bought by a British collector.

Flt Lt Trevor-Roper received the Distinguished Flying Cross and a Distinguished Flying Medal.

The hero’s medals were recently found in a dusty file by relatives who were told they could be worth £60,000.

The unnamed buyer beat off bids from Tory peer Lord Ashcroft.

Flt Lt Trevor-Roper was a rear gunner with RAF legend Guy Gibson on the mission to destroy German dams using “bouncing bombs”.

His skill as a gunner diverted fire from anti-aircraft defences at his aircraft and away from other planes. 

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