Hillingdon Council has awarded its Civic Medal to eight war veterans.
The West Middlesex Normandy Veterans Association (NVA) Branch no.77 is disbanding in November and the council wanted to honour and pay tribute to the veterans, and to say thank you for the part they played in British history.
Members of the West Middlesex NVA joined senior council staff at a lunch hosted at the Civic Centre on Wednesday last week.
Leader of the council Ray Puddifoot, Mayor of Hillingdon councillor Catherine Dann and the council’s chief executive Fran Beasley also attended.
Ms Dann presented the medal to D-Day veterans Myer Malin (branch chairman), Walter Hart, Fintan Dunuhoe, Jack Marsh, Patrick Underwood and Basil Groves.
In addition, two airmen who served throughout WWII received the Civic Medal - Arthur Preston, who was in Burma at the time of the Japanese Invasion and is the last member of the local Burma Star Association, and Franciszek Kornicki, who flew as part of the Polish Air Force alongside the RAF. He was posted to Northolt with 315 Squadron in 1941.
Mr Malin, who lives in Pinner, said: “It was a total surprise to receive this medal, it’s fantastic. Hillingdon has been wonderfully supportive to the West Middlesex Branch, we really appreciate it.”
Mr Hart, 95, said: “It is important to us that future generations learn about history and the war. War is an awful things and it is up to future generations to prevent it happening again.”
Leader of the council, councillor Ray Puddifoot, said: “As a borough we are immensely proud of those who serve or who have served our country.
“We are proud to be associated with both the Normandy Veterans Association and the Burma Star Association and to have custody of the Standards of our local branches to ensure that future generations remember their courage and their deeds.
“We are also proud to be the home of the Polish War Memorial at Northolt as a tribute to those brave service men from Poland who gave their lives for their freedom and ours.”
