WELL much to my surprise the government has done a u-turn and decided to award an Arctic Convoy medal, something I thought would never happen, so hopefully Mr H Griffiths of Ystrad Mynach will get the medal that he richly deserves before he passes on.

However, the question of a medal for the 55,573 men of Bomber Command who made the ultimate sacrifice still remains open and now a medal should also be awarded to these men. They went out night after night on operations that certainly brought the war to end by years and that should be recognised by this government.

They lost 44.4 per cent of their total, far higher losses than any other service, had a life expectancy of six weeks in situations that were far more dangerous than a lot of mercantile events and lost thousands more men than the merchant navy and yet their efforts have still gone unrecognised. I now call on Newport city councillors to petition the government for a Bomber Command medal.

Shaun McGuire Mole Close Bettws