What is my airforce treasure value, I requested the Antiques Roadshow Expert. I used to be in for a shock | EUROtoday

After serving within the RAF, Les turned a college instructor and headmaster after which a reader for the London University within the schooling division. Mark believes that sharing household tales – nevertheless harrowing they might be – is significantly better than the stiff higher lip strategy and never speaking about conflict experiences. Otherwise, these household tales are misplaced.

“When I was a little boy, my father would tell me stories about his aeroplane. He was an air gunner and he would tell me about the guns. Magical stuff when you are 6. Then he would get his log book out and would say I remember this day when we did this. I was absolutely riveted by these stories. And then at my nan’s house at the top of the stairs there was a cupboard and in it was my dad’s uniform. My Dad’s sergeant stripes and his medals were in a cardboard box.

“One day, after getting out the medal box, my Nan said, ‘if you promise to look after them you can take them home’.”

That was once I made my first medal show and I’ve been amassing ever since.

“We began by going out to old junk shops and we bought the odd medal. In 1973 my Dad bought me a poster with every British medal from 1793-1973.  Ninety-five medals on a poster. And we decided that we would collect each of them and that’s how I got started.”

After our museum tour we go for a lightweight lunch on the new Raffles Hotel on Whitehall throughout the road from Horse Guards. The constructing is the previous War Office the place Churchill used to function. As we enter the constructing, I can see Mark is worked up. “I used to work here in the ’90s,” he says. What did you do, I ask, as we head to the Guards Bar. “I can’t tell you,” he says, “Other than the floor hasn’t changed.”

The RAF Benevolent Fund is certainly one of 4 charities supported by this yr’s Telegraph Christmas Charity Appeal. The others are Go Beyond, Race Against Dementia and Marie Curie. To make a donation, please go to telegraph.co.uk/2023appeal or name 0151 284 1927.