Josef Frantisek - Bar to the DFM?

[Iain Torrance]

The rule for a DFC or DFM award was that the person had to be alive at the date the recommendation for the award.

There are suspicions that paperwork could have been 'back-dated' in some cases by Squadrons.

An interrsting case is the liberal interpretation was taken for those 'missing' as per Halliday's work on Canadin awards -see web http://airforce.ca/uploads/airforce/...canrafe-l.html.:

It is clear that of the officers recommended (F/O Ede, F/L Williams, P/O Louis Reginald Jacobsen) together with Sergeant H.H. Kitchener) at least one (Williams) had been put up for awards after the sinking of HMS Glorious. The Air Ministry seems to have ignored this in respect to the ban on posthumous awards; the men were deemed alive (hopefull as POWs) until proven otherwise. However, the policy of "no awards to POWs" was skirted in a minute dated 26 July 1940:

The three officers are missing, and may, therefore, be prisoners of ar, but as they were on board H.M.S. "Glorious" when she was sunk I do not think they could be regarded as in any way to blame for their capture...t