RAAF Flight Lieutenant Leslie Oliver is interviewed outside Buckingham Palace gates by Elaine Howell of the Daily Mirror (Sydney), London, 9 March 1943. Oliver, an early EATS trainee who flew with No. 455 Squadron RAAF in 1942 while it was operating with Bomber Command, had just attended a palace investiture during which he was presented with the DFC by King George VI. Towards the end of the war RAAF medal awardees had the option of receiving the medal in Australia or in London before heading home. Ken McIntyre RAAF chose Buckingham Palace: I shook hands with the King, or rather he shook hands with me. There was a band playing gently all the time. They put a little hook on our uniform so the King doesn't have to grope, so he just plonks it on the hook, and shakes hands. He spoke to me and asked me when did I expect to go back to Australia. [McIntyre quoted in Rowe, The luckiest men alive, p. 86; AWM UK0034]
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