The last surviving pilot from the Dambusters raid is concerned the Ministry for Culture and Heritage could stop him from auctioning his Second World War medals.
Les Munro at the Bomber Command Memorial in London. Photo: SUPPLIED
Squadron Leader Les Munro, who lives in Tauranga, is selling the awards to raise money for the maintenance of a memorial for bomber crews in London.
The ministry has questioned whether the medals can be sold and said it wanted to check if they were listed under the Protected Objects Act.
However, Mr Munro said he had advice that his medals were not among those listed under the Act, but he was worried that he might be prevented from selling them.
"I'm a bit concerned about that possibility. I would think that those medals are my own personal ones, not owned by New Zealand as a whole and I would be very concerned if there was any steps taken to prevent the auction for the purpose I'm doing."
DNW - Les Munro medals. Photo: SUPPLIED