I HAD the honour of representing the Malvern Community Partnership at the unveiling of the Winged Lion memorial in Prague, as reported in last week's edition.

The Malvern Community Partnership responsible for twinning feels it appropriate to relay a message from Matus Murcko, a 23-year-old Czech man and an aviation enthusiast, to the people of Malvern and to the Royal Air Force Association.

“I’m just an ordinary aviator interested in flying in all it’s ways.

"The RAF is significantly related to my nation’s history.

"Men from Czechoslovakia wanted to fight for their country but had no weapons, no land. "Thanks to the RAF they could fight the occupants of their homeland and get a revenge for what they did to their families and friends.

"Together with all the British, Canadian, Australian, American and lot of other pilots they could return the freedom to our country.

"I’ve always seen those men – not only the pilots but all the staff participating in the battles – as heroes. They left their homeland for Britain to join the terrible war of terror, hate and blood.

"They experienced all those nightmares of war, demolished cities and death all around them, all the time.

"They sacrificed their youth, hope for the future and most of them their own lives to let us live in freedom.

"And that should never be forgotten.

"I thank them for that, and the only way I can pay them back is to let their memory live.

"I wear the badges so that when people ask I can tell them about them.

"I hope I can pass the heritage among the people. The heritage of freedom."

Should any reader care to relay a message to this young man, who is training to be an air traffic controller, I would be pleased to pass it on.

Mark Young

Malvern