A disgraceful delay - Telegraph The most obvious question to ask about the Government's welcome decision finally to award campaign decorations to veteran survivors of the Arctic convoys and Bomber Command, and their close relatives, is why did it take so long? The heroism of the men who took part in two of the most perilous activities of the Second World War has been known for more than 70 years; yet the Ministry of Defence has displayed a baffling stubbornness in refusing to acknowledge their efforts. Essentially, the MoD flatly declined to revisit decisions made in 1945 on the eligibility criteria for awarding decorations such as the Africa Star and the Burma Star. Unaccountably, the majority of Arctic convoy survivors, whose experiences were among the most horrendous of the war, received no recognition. They included men who had to swim for their lives in polar waters and spent months in Russian army camps. Their efforts helped the Soviet Union defeat the Germans on the eastern front - a contribution acknowledged by the Russians when they issued a commemorative medal of their own in 1985. The Queen permitted convoy veterans to wear this while they were still being denied a medal by their own country. The story was not much better for the veterans of Bomber Command, who ran greater risks than any other Service during the war. Out of 125,000 aircrew, more than 55,000 died - a fatality rate on a par with the infantry in the First World War trenches. At least they now have a national monument in London to mark their sacrifice, though that took 67 years to erect. There is no excuse for the delay in paying tribute to these brave men. They survived the war only to become victims of bureaucratic obduracy.