The veteran who
died on Remembrance Sunday was an uncle of mine. Uncle Don was an officer in the Merchant Navy
and spent much of the war on convoys running supplies through the Arctic to Russia. With his death at the age of 92, it seems
that there are now only a dozen convoy veterans left in South
Wales – and it’s obviously one of those numbers which changes in
only one direction.
Perhaps the
Russians should simply decide to pop a few medals in the post to the remaining
veterans. I’m not sure who would be
committing the offence if they did.
Would it be the Russians for sending them, or the aging veterans for
receiving them? Either way, the
probability of anyone launching a prosecution seems rather slim to me – the publicity
would make anyone who took such a decision look a complete idiot. And I can’t believe that the UK Government
would really want to provoke a diplomatic spat with Russia over such a trivial matter
either.
What I really don’t
understand is the rationale behind the rule.
Usually, I can see some sense or logic behind decisions made by those in
authority, even if I disagree with them, but in this case, I just can’t. It’s not that the UK Government is opposed to
foreign governments giving awards to UK citizens; they’ve just decided
that it must be within 5 years of the service of the individuals
concerned. Why 5? Why not 4, or 6, or 10? Why have a time limit at all, once the
principle is recognised?
Trivial it may be
to the governments concerned; but it matters to those involved. I find it hard to believe that the UK
Government can be so intransigent over such a wholly arbitrary time limit on a
matter of such little import other than to those directly involved.
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