A 101-year-old veteran is calling for the few remaining members of a British Army force who served in France in 1939-40 to be formally honoured.
Hull City Council is supporting the petition to honour the British Expeditionary Force’s role in France in 1939-40 with a clasp to the 1939-45 War Star.
Service personnel who went to the defence of France between 6 June 1944 and 8 May 1945 are entitled to the award of the Legion d’Honneur by the French state, but no medal was ever struck to honour the British Expeditionary Force’s service in France during 1939-40.
Trevor Powell, Lt Col Retd, and his 101-year-old father, Hugh Bruce Powell, who served in France in 1939-40, created the petition.
It has more than 2,500 signatures – but needs 10,000 by Tuesday 27 August for the Government to respond.
Trevor and Hugh Powell, who served with the 62nd (Hull) Hy Ack-Ack regiment during the Second World War, wrote to President Macron in France to suggest he extends the award of the Legion d’Honneur to the few remaining members of the British Expeditionary Force, but no action has been taken.
Councillor Alan Gardiner, Armed Forces Champion, said: “Many people from the Hull area served with distinction in France in the 1939-40 British Expeditionary Force and so this petition may affect many people in the city.”
Sign the petition here.
