Thurso war hero honoured with BEM award
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A WORLD War II Royal Air Force veteran has been presented with the British Empire Medal at a ceremony in Thurso.
Don Mason received the medal from the Lord-Lieutenant of Caithness, Lord Thurso, in the town's Royal British Legion club.
"I feel very humbled," said Mr Mason to a hall filled to the gunwales with family, friends, local councillors and military personnel.
Mr Mason hopes to go to Normandy next month for the 75th commemoration of the D-Day landings that he took part in.
"The reason for going finally is my squadron flight commander crashed and was killed on the night of D-Day [June 6, 1944] when delivering paratroopers to Ranville near Pegasus Bridge. I want to go to his memorial to pay tribute to him."
Mr Mason flew to Normandy twice on D-Day, first dropping paratroops and then a glider with more troops and equipment. All 16 planes in his squadron were hit by anti-aircraft fire – but he said "it was simply a job that had to be done".
The BEM is an award for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the Crown.
Lord Thurso said: "By command of Her Majesty I presented the British Empire Medal to Mr Mason for his gallantry during World War II and for services given to the community in Caithness.
"I would add that it's a great personal pleasure to me to bestow this medal. He's been a stalwart of the community here and many young people in our county have benefited from his wonderful talks and lectures."
Lord Thurso went on to say that the BEM award was "hugely merited" by Mr Mason.
Don Mason said his British Empire Medal had come “out of the blue” when the award was announced in the New Year honours list.
Over the past 14 years the former RAF pilot has been giving illustrated talks about his wartime experiences to local primary school pupils.
Speaking at the time of the announcement, Mr Mason (98) said: “What I’ve been doing started in 2005 when the Imperial War Museum launched a project called Their Past Your Future. They recruited veterans of World War II like myself from the three services to go to schools to speak about our experiences.
“It’s my actual experience – in other words, it’s not second hand.”
Originally from Worcestershire, Mr Mason moved to Thurso in the 1980s, although his connection with Caithness had begun in 1940 when he flew Blenheims out of Wick.
During the war he served as a pilot and then a radio observer, completing nearly 5000 flying hours including missions for the Special Operations Executive when he dropped agents into France along with supplies for the resistance.
