Defence secretary Ben Wallace visits Gosport to hear Second World War veteran's plea for greater recognition for RAF Bomber Command

Mr Wallace, who attended the borough as a guest of MP Caroline Dinenage, marked the ceremonial opening of a new Chinook hangar at aerospace firm Standard Aero, after visiting Alverstoke House Care Home to meet Second World War veteran Geoff Rushton.

The 98-year-old is one of the few surviving veterans of the war’s bombing squadrons, having served as a navigator on 31 death-defying missions to end the Nazi regime.

But Geoff has been worried the war efforts of his former comrades will be overshadowed by RAF Bomber Command’s raids on German cities such as Dresden, which suffered heavy civilian casualties and damages.

Now the defence secretary has said he will look into the issue and try to ascertain the number of bomber veterans still alive in the UK.

Geoff, who joined the RAF at the age of 17 and flew his first mission at 18, said: ‘Bomber Command lost an awful lot of people. People think we were only bombing houses. We helped the army a lot. I think the war would have taken a lot longer to end if we hadn’t helped. We didn’t get the recognition we deserved.

Geoff, who has been awarded the French Légion d'Honneur, added: ‘A medal would be nice.’

Mr Wallace said that Geoff’s plea and experiences were a powerful reminder that – as war returns to Europe in Ukraine – that ‘freedom isn’t free’.

The defence secretary said: ‘Every year for all of us is a year further away from a war that saved us from invasion and our values and human rights being compromised.

‘And I think it’s right and important that we learn those lessons and never forget that conflict.

‘All of us will remember there were a lot of First World War veterans and that becomes a distant memory and then it becomes history. The Second World War veterans are fewer and fewer.’

Mr Wallace said that the ‘same ethos’ of self-sacrifice to fight ‘a despotic regime’ was alive in Ukraine, as its citizens take up arms to repel invading Russian forces.

Addressing Geoff returning to a career as a bank worker after the war, Mr Wallace said: ‘It always strikes me that these veterans went back to normality.

‘Because this wasn’t a war of professionals. It was a war of all of us who suddenly stopped being a journalist, who stopped being a bank clerk, and risked their lives to defend these shores.

‘And at the moment, what we see is Ukraine doing that, being invaded by essentially a despotic regime, evoking ethnic nationalism and all the things we thought were long extinct on the shores of Europe.

‘I went to see some Ukrainians training on Salisbury Plain yesterday, and they are fighting for their country, and we are doing everything we can to help.’

The Second World War veteran said he felt ‘very honoured’ by the visit and recognition from the ‘charming’ politician.

He said: ‘I don’t know why I deserved it.’

Mr Wallace’s visit to the borough then saw him as guest of honour at StandardAero, as the site held a ceremonial opening for its latest Chinook facilities.

StandardAero, based in the former Fleetlands site in Fareham Road, is one of the area’s largest employers, with staff working on maintenance and repairs for a wide range of military helicopters.

Nigel Amphlett, government business executive at StandardAero said: ‘Fleetlands is the most extensive aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul facility of its kind in Europe, and the largest employer in the Gosport region.

‘With over half of the Fleetlands workforce dedicated to UK MOD helicopter maintenance support programmes it seemed fitting that we should have the pleasure of a visit from Ben Wallace.

‘The visit gave the management team at Fleetlands the opportunity to introduce the Secretary of State to some of the highly skilled and experienced workforce, brief him on the broad range of capabilities and services we can offer the defence customer, and let him see first-hand how StandardAero UK maintains, repairs and overhauls the Gazelle and Chinook helicopters.’

Speaking after the visit, MP for Gosport Caroline Dinenage said: ‘Gosport has such as deep-rooted military history and it was important for the Defence Secretary to see how vital our area remains to the armed forces.’