A ‘Military Division’ B.E.M. group of three awarded to Sergeant D. G. Lord, Royal Corps of Transport, late Royal Engineers

British Empire Medal, (Military) E.II.R. (23744899 Sgt. Denis G. Lord. R.C.T.); General Service 1962-2007, 1 clasp, Borneo (23744899 Spr. D. G. Lord. RE.); Jubilee 1977, mounted as originally worn, generally very fine or better (3) £300-£400

B.E.M. London Gazette 11 June 1977, the recommendation states:

‘25 Tpt & Mov Regt RCT was tasked to investigate the possibility of setting up a Welfare Flight Service to and from Manchester based on Munster/Osnabruck Airport. There were two reasons for this, the first being to provide a badly needed service for the benefit of many thousands of Service personnel and their families stationed in Germany and their relatives living in the UK, and the second being to provide an equally badly needed source of income from its profits for the 1 (BR) Corps Welfare Funds.

An enormous amount of detailed planning was necessary before and during the launching of the scheme in order to ensure its success. Sgt. Lord was an essential member of the planning team, and without his great ability and flair the undoubted success of the operation could not have been achieved.

The task facing him was enormous and far in excess of the norm for his rank and service. He set up the whole of the Booking Office procedures, based as they had been on unfamiliar commercial, rather than familiar military, lines. He was required, single handed, to book approximately 2,500 passengers to “Airlink” seats, to maintain the many necessary cross-referenced documents associated with such bookings, and was responsible for handling, and correct accounting for many hundreds of thousands of Deutsche Marks. This task required meticulous attention to detail, intense concentration, and the ability to think and plan ahead intelligently. He coped with this enormous task with outstanding skill and worked extremely long hours, with no regard to his private life.

So successful has the whole venture proved to be, that it became possible to donate DM40,000 to the Corps Welfare Fund after only one year of operation in October 1976, and similar or even greater sums should be made available in each successive year.

There is no doubt that the completion of this exacting task of setting up “Airlink” Welfare Flights, which are proving to be of outstanding benefit to many thousands of servicemen and their dependants, is due entirely to Sgt. Lord’s selfless dedication and professionalism. For one of his age, rank and service to have completed such an undertaking, working to limits far beyond the normal call of duty, is truely remarkable and wholly deserving of a suitable award.’

Denis Gordon Lord was stationed with the Royal Corps of Transport in Bielefield, West Germany.