“It is not generally known that the Airforce Bomber Command losses were horrific,” former RAF bomber command pilot and Orange resident Alex Jenkins, 85, said.

“In the Bomber Command, you were an old man at 25.”

That Emeritus Professor Jenkins survived his time in the Bomber Command is a feat in itself.

That three more Orange residents - pilot Bruce Heffer, 86, navigator David Griffin 88 and pilot Alf Read 88 - survived with him is extraordinary.

While the men are close friends now, only Professor Jenkins and Mr Heffer met during their time with the RAF.

It wasn’t until later in life, after pursuing vastly different professions throughout NSW, that the four men found themselves in Orange and gradually formed a bond as members of the Airforce Association’s Orange Branch.

Mr Griffin, a retired teacher who was a prisoner of war until World War II’s end in 1945, says he was particularly lucky to make it out of the Bomber Command alive.

“Three aircraft were shot down, at different times, 21 crew and I’m the only survivor,” he said.

“I escaped with a parachute and my old fashion boots were taken by the wind, so I landed with no shoes.”

Mr Heffer, a veterinarian who was also a prisoner of war, said more than anything, he had felt fortunate for surviving.

“We just felt lucky,” he said.

“We were too young to feel guilt or anything like that,” Professor Jenkins added.

While not all of the men will march in Orange this year - Mr Griffin will commemorate the day with family elsewhere in NSW - they all agree on the importance of the national day of remembrance.

“None of this is about grandstanding for us, it is all in memory of our crewmates,” Mr Jenkins said, adding that many of his former crewmates’ graves are scattered through European cemeteries and tended to by the communities there.

Mr Read, a farmer, said they were all happy to see the Anzac tradition carried on by younger generations.

“It’s tremendous,” he said.

“Each year it gets bigger and bigger.”