‘Bus ticket’ medal was in fact Distinguished Flying Cross

WHEN Second World War airman Jack Barrie died at the age of 88, his family decided to find out more about his collection of medals.

Mr Barrie, from Callander, Perthshire, who joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve at the age of 19, always told his daughter that his medal with a distinctive striped ribbon was for “collecting bus tickets”.

However, since he died in June they have discovered that his medal was a Distinguished Flying Cross, which was “awarded in recognition of exemplary gallantry during active operations against the enemy in the air”.

After Mr Barrie, from Callander, Perthshire, signed up he qualified as a sergeant navigator and was posted to 157 Squadron at RAF Valley in Anglesey, where he took part in night fighter raids in the de Havilland Mosquito, which was then one of the fastest and best-performing aircraft in the world. Night after night he guided his plane to the heart of German-occupied Europe and back home again, facing enemy fighters and anti-aircraft fire on a death-defying 60 missions.

He took part in 14 anti-flying bomb patrols, spending 45 hours in the air. However, he never spoke about his missions and it was only last week that the Ministry of Defence confirmed what the medal was for.

His daughter, Alyson Barrie, said: “When we asked what he got it for he would always say it was for collecting bus tickets.”

“When we got the information from Dad’s service records and realised the medal was awarded for consistent and dedicated service we felt it did somehow tie in with his flippant explanation that he collected bus tickets, not sorties.”