Issue 36 2023 - Journal - Page 85
Save the Arthur Scarf
Victoria Cross Medal!
The Royal Air Force Museum is calling on the public’s support to help keep Squadron Leader
Arthur Scarf’s Victoria Cross medal in the UK.
act of bravery, it is also a powerful reminder of the sacrifices
made by all the British and Commonwealth service personnel
fighting in the Far East, and the role of the RAF within this
context. This unique medal is part of our nation’s heritage, and
a significant element to a decisive moment in British history.
There is an imminent risk of it leaving the UK, but we’re hopeful that with public support we can prevent this from happening, and for the medal to remain on our shores. If we’re
successful, the medal will be displayed at the Museum, in the
heart of our collection, helping us to share the stories of all those
RAF personnel who fought, lived and died in the conflict.’
Arthur Scarf was the recipient of the only Victoria Cross
awarded to the Royal Air Force for services in the Far East
during the Second World War. This incredibly rare medal,
and Arthur’s Story, is a national treasure which represents
an extraordinary and highly poignant story of great
personal courage, and the RAF Museum is determined
for it to remain within the UK.
The Museum is a registered charity and has just a few
months to raise £660,000 to match the auction bid placed
by an overseas buyer. If successful in the mission to acquire
this one-of-a-kind medal, the VC will be preserved in the
RAF Museum’s national collection on public display in
London, for future generations to see.
The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest decoration for
valour in the British armed forces, awarded for an act of
extreme bravery in the face of the enemy. Such is the
medals legendary status, recipients are often revered as
heroes. Only 22 Victoria Crosses were awarded to RAF
personnel during the Second World War, and just one, for
their service in the Far East - the VC that was awarded to
Arthur Scarf.
The Museum is hoping to raise £250,000 of the required
funds through public donations. Money raised will be
added to a contribution being made from the Museum’s
own funds, and a potential grant from the National
Heritage Memorial Fund. Donate to #SaveTheScarfVC
on the Museum’s dedicated Save the Scarf VC Go Fund
Me page.
Scarf joined the RAF in 1936 aged 23, and three years
later was sent to Singapore with No. 62 Squadron to join
the forces in the Far East. On the 9 December 1941, he
led a formation of Bristol Blenheim aircraft in a daylight
RAF Museum Historian and Head of Collections, Dr
Harry Raffal said: ‘Not only does Sqn Ldr Scarf’s Victoria
Cross represent his outstanding devotion to duty and supreme
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