MEDALS of two RAF airmen who flew onboard a Lancaster bomber during the infamous Dambusters raid in the Second World War have been reunited, thought to be the first of its kind in the world.

Wireless operator George Chalmers and rear gunner Ray Wilkinson were members of the same crew piloted by Bill Townsend who attacked the Ennepe Dam. They fired Barnes Wallis's 'bouncing bomb' invention, which exploded short of its target.

Hereford Times:

Dambusters: Bill Townsend and his crew before his posting to 617 Squadron. Left to right, Ray Wilkinson (rear gunner), Douglas Webb (front gunner), Charles Franklin (bomb aimer), Bill Townsend (pilot), Jack Grain (wireless operator), Lance Howa

A month later both men were invited to Buckingham Palace where they were presented with distinguished flying medals.

Ray Wilkinson moved to Australia in 1968 with his wife, Iris. His medals and other RAF artefacts remained with her until she died last year. It was her wish that her husband's Dambusters memorabilia be sold and the proceeds be donated to charity. The buyer in Australia then travelled to Leominster medal and military antique dealers, War and Son.

With his medals and material now back in the UK, War and Son's owner Steve Nuwar visited RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire.

After visiting the air base, he pictured both men's medals next to the display of "O" for "Orange" at The Dambusters Inn, and will now exhibit extracts from the log books in their shop in Drapers Lane in Leominster.

Hereford Times:

Mr Nuwar said: "To start with, selfishly, we thought about firsts.

"In the medal and war memorabilia field, uniting the gallantry medal groups of two Dambusters from the same plane has never been done before.

"It wasn't until Ray Wilkinson's memorabilia started to be unveiled in front of us that we felt the enormity of it in a truer sense.

"We started to get a true sense of both airmen side-by-side, getting on with their jobs in the same Lancaster, messing together, having a beer at Scampton, about to make history."