PTE Henry Hayden, Liverpool Regiment

It is not uncommon for searches we conduct to start well, hit a series of brick walls and then pick up momentum again. That is the case with the WWI Victory Medal awarded to 22400 PTE Henry Hayden , Liverpool Regiment.
The medal was sent to me by Julie from Perth, WA. It was found amongst her father's possessions having been bought at auction many years ago. Julie was keen to see the medal back with the family so she did a fair bit of research herself.
Julie had found the following information about Henry:
“Private Hayden died on 30 July 1916 in the area of Guillemont in France. It is on the eastern edge of the British Expeditionary Force's sector of the Somme battlefield. He was a member of the 20th Battalion The King's Liverpool Regiment.”
This link is the Henry’s CWGC entry.
In the 1920s Henry’s son, William Henry Hayden, moved to Australia and was living in Adelaide. Based on this information from Julie, I worked out that William later moved to Victoria and served during WWII (VX4226 PTE Hayden). He died in 1959 and is buried in Fawkner Memorial Park, Melbourne. That is where I ran in to a brick wall.
On a hunch, I enlisted the help of one of the fantastic Yuku ladies, Sue. Sue was able to provide me with the names of Henry’s other children which were Leonard, Joseph, Emily and Thomas. Leonard also served during WWII (SX 6372 PTE L.J. Hayden) and returned to South Australia after the war. Sue also provided the name of one of Leonard’s sons and a possible address in SA.
This morning I rang the people listed at that address and sure enough, it is the right family. Leonard’s son John died seven years ago but his wife Rita was familiar with the Hayden family history. She is quite excited that this medal will be returned to the family very soon.
The returned medal tally is now 696.

John Marriott Cuming

Two of the three WWI medals awarded to 1524 John Marriott Cuming were amongst those recently sent to me by the WA RSL. Originally from Victoria, his family moved to WA prior to the out break of war. From his service record I know that John was a serving member of the Royal Navy Reserve when he enlisted.
As is the case with most WWI service records, John's shows mostly administrative entries and medical problems rather than where he fought. He received a gun shot wound, had heart trouble and spent some time in a VDH.
The search for John's family was reasonably simple. A rather uncommon surname in WA was my starting point. I took a punt on an entry in the White Pages and after checking with other family members it turns out the chap I rung is John's great nephew. John did not have any children of his own.
The medals pictured are John's 1914/15 Star and British War Medal. Where his Victory Medals is, is any ones guess.
The medal returned tally is now 695.

Frederick Henry Andrews

It is not often that we know almost exactly what has happened to a set of medals we return.
Bill is responsible for tracking down the family of VX65750 Frederick Henry Andrews, in fact he found his son, John. From John we know that the medals were stolen during a house break in about 2002. Along with the medals some Masonic Lodge regalia were also stolen.
Whoever found all these items handed them in to a Masonic Lodge who in turn contacted Bill. With his usual diligence Bill tracked down John and the medals were returned to him.
The medals returned tally is now 693.

James Michael Dunn

NX173891 James Michael Dunn's medals have been sitting somewhere being well looked after since they were issued. The medals are in as issued condition and have never been mounted for wear. James was a soldier from NSW and the medals came to me from Victoria. Where they have been since being issued in the early 1950s is any ones guess but they have been looked after.

The returned medal tally is now 688.

Matthew Neil Dolan

SX10181 Matthew Neil Dolan's Pacific Star has had a mysterious past. Dolan's other three WWII medals are with his son and it wasn't until Matthew's funeral that a fellow digger pointed out one medal was missing. Matthew was from SA and this medal came to me fro WA so how it got there is any ones guess. I just very pleased that the full group is now reunited.

The medal returned tally is now 684.

Defence Force Service Medal

I recently received a Defence Force Service Medal awarded to John Egmanis who served in the RAAF. Thanks to a bit of help from Air Force HQ I got a clue that led me straight to John.

The medal tally is now 683.

Leslie Midford DIXON

The medal to 3333 A-Cpl Leslie Midford Dixon is one of those that are not seen often. His unit was the 1st Pioneer Battalion and rather uncommon.

The search has been difficult and very lengthy, well done to Bill for persisting. The medal will soon be sent back to the family of Dixon.

The returned medal tally is now 682.

John Binnie Livie

WX29772 John Binnie Livie was originally from Scotland but emigrated to Australia as a youth. These medal were sent to me by the WA Branch of the RSL as mentioned in a previous post.
I now know that the medals were stolen about five years ago. The theft occur ed a day or so after John's death notice appeared in the local paper.
The medal returned tally is now 681.

Frederick Harris

The pictured medals were awarded to SX39634 Frederick William John Harris who was from South Australia. However, I like the note that his place of enlistment was 'Field, New Guinea'. This search was arduous to say the least and not helped by the difficulty we have in accessing South Australian records. Bill prevailed and has located Harris' niece who will soon receive these medals.

The returned medal tally is now 677.

DAVID ERNEST ELLIOTT

NX129487 DAVID ERNEST ELLIOTT enlisted in Papua but was originally from NSW. I found very little information about him on the Internet. The only reference I did find was enough to provide a link to his son (thank you Janette). Elliott was entitled to four medals for his service in WWI but only three were sent to me. They are in as issued condition and still in their box of issue.

The returned medal tally is now 674.

Australian Active Service Medal

Another medal sent to me recently by the WA RSL was the AASM (clasp Iraq 2003) awarded to AB Simon Holloway. It took a bit to track him down but the day after the medal arrived at my address I was able to speak to Simon and arrange for his medal to be sent back to him

The returned medal tally is now 671.

James Gorman

One of the medals I received from the WA RSL was the BWM awarded to 2219 Dvr James Gorman. His service record is quite extensive and shows that came from a small town in South West WA. I found that he was buried in a town close to this so I checked the White Pages. There was one entry with the same name so I took a punt and rung them. Sure enough they are related. I found the great grand son of James.

The returned medal tally is now 670.

Thanks to the RSL

On this blog and our web site I mentioned several times the fantastic relationship I have with the RSL National HQ and the State Branches. In the past they have provided me with research assistance and other support. They have also provided me with medals that have been handed in.
In the last couple of days I have received several sets of lost medals from the WA RSL. Over the next few weeks I hope to solve some of these research cases. Indeed, I've located the families of two sets I received and will post details shortly.

Chivers update

I have recently received a photo of Henry Joseph Chivers from his family so I've added it to the relevant post.

Another international return

Since Apr 06 I have been researching the 14/15 Star awarded to 14420 PTE Ralph Dudgeon, Coldstream Guards. I received some bits of information from the British Medal Forum and the Great War Forum. Unfortunately, no clues of any substance was generated. The only link to Dudgeon's later life is an entry on the NSW BDM that he died in Mona Vale in 1969. While his records shows that he had a wife named Annie we just couldn't find anything else.
The power of the Internet proved itself yet again toady when I received an email from Dudgeon's great niece who lives in England.
The returned medal tally is now 669.


PS. John S, we have almost returned all the medals you sent me four years ago.

James Green

3433 James Albert Green was from Tasmania and served with 1st Divisional Artillery Column. His service record is a bit more detailed than most I have come across. This is because there is a considerable amount of correspondence from the family who took him in when he was young. This all gave some detail about his younger life and hints to the geographic area he came from. This was the clue I needed that led me to a distant relative and in turn the name of James' son which was Gerald. There is also a letter from a Mrs A Dillion which turns out to be his future mother in law. What this letter didn't give was the name of James' fiancee which I now know to be Patricia.

The hint about Gerald led to James' grand daughter who lives in Melbourne. Bill found her through the Electoral Rolls. After the war James was a miner and worked around Victoria. However, the medal was sent to me from near where he lived in Tasmania. I wonder where it has been since it was sent to James in the early 1920s?

The returned medal tally is now 668.

PHILIP BASS

The search for the family of QX17878 Phillip Bass has been a difficult one. I've had his Pacific Star for eight years after it was given to me by the QLD RSL. As was a common occurrence for WWI and WWII, birth dates were sometimes manipulated to bring volunteers in to the required age limits. This is what appears to Harv been done by Bass, so matching up the records has been difficult.

This link to Yuku shows the amount of detail our researches go to. Bill also learnt a valuable lesson about the names Sydney and Sidney. Time for more coffee Bill.

The medal will now be returned to the nephew of Phillip Bass.

The returned medal tally is now 667.

HENRY JOSEPH CHIVERS

N273320 Henry Joseph Chivers Australian Service Medal was sent to me in May 05. The search fro Chivers' family has been quite difficult as Henry used a different birth date from his real one when he enlisted. This was not an uncommon occurrence at the time. Details of the search can be seen on Yuku.

We now know that Chivers' medals went missing 40 years ago when the tin they were kept in was mistakenly thrown out during a house move. Where this medal has been for all those years is unknown, however, it has lived a hard life. It is now very dull compared to other examples and the surface is quite pitted. As can be seen in the pictures, the image of the King and the naming are quite hare to distinguish.

The returned medal tally is now 666.

Added 3 Jul 10.
I have recently received this photo of Chivers from his family.

Contemporary ADF medals

These medals were awarded to Jason Van Den Heuvel for recent service in the ADF, including for active service in East Timor. The medals are the Australian Active Service Medal and the Australian Defence Medal. The AASM is an official replacement issue as can be see by the (D), indicating duplicate. after the name.

The returned medal tally is now 665.

Thomas Update

The search for the family of PTE Murray Thomas that I posted on 25 May 10 has got better and better. As it turns out the the medals will be returned to Thomas' grandson Murray Wilton. This name might be familiar to Sydney readers. Murray is one half of the Two Murrays afternoon drive program on 2UE.

Murray called me the other day at my office and we had a wonderful chat about what a surprise it was for him to be contacted by Bill and then to be told about these medals. Murray very kindly offered to speak to me on air that afternoon. I am very grateful to Murray for this opportunity and I hope that this might lead to some clues about other medals we are researching.

Today the Thomas medals received a bit of a spruce up and were court mounted and cleaned. A couple of pictures are below. This work was done by MAJ Daryl Johnson who does the highest quality work with medal mounting.

The plan is for Murray and I to met in the not to distant future so that I can give him back these medals personally.

James Kirkup Elliott

The search for NX21493 James Kirkup Elliott has been a long and involved one that had lots of dead ends. Lots of credit goes to the Yuku team for this one as they provided heaps of clues for Bill to follow. A lot of these clues gave Bill a headache but the end result is that the medals will go back to James' daughter. The story is best told through the search on Yuku.

The returned medal tally is now 663.

James Brown

VX29288 James Alexander Brown served in the 1st Division Provost Company. The search for him was rather involved and is best explained by having a look at the research notes Yuku. Once again Bill and the Yuku team put this one together.

The medals are in as issued condition and have never been mounted for waring. The came to me via the Directorate of Honours and Awards having first been handed in to the Victorian Police by a recycling company.

These medals will be returned to James' nephew.

The returned medal tally is now 657.

McCarthy

2894 PTE Theodore John McCathy has a rather interesting service record. There is a bit more detail than usual including the results of his dental examination. It gets really interesting on page 24 where there is a copy of the telegram to his NOK advising that he had been repatriated as a prisoner of war. Unfortunately there is not a lot of detail about his capture and I suppose there might be something in the unit war diary. I come across very few POW medals so it is rather special to see this one head back to the family.

The returned medal tally is now 652.

243 PTE Murray Thomas

PTE Thomas served in the Machine Gun Corps and deployed to France. He was wounded in action and selected for officer training but was returned to his unit. He returned to Australia in 1919.
The returned medal tally is now 651.

McPherson update

This story appeared in the Albert and Logan News Paper as a follow up to the McPherson return.

Suhr update

No sooner do I put the Suhr MM post on this blog in a hope to find some clues and the search is resolved. I've just spoken to Eric's nephew and the medal will be returned to the family in the very near future.
The medal returned tally is now 649.

DONALD RUSSELL MCPHERSON

One of my sources of lost medals is through a couple of mail centers in Brisbane. When a package opens in the sorting process and the contents can not be connected to a sender they are investigated by the mail centre staff. Two contacts I have are Jackie E and Pauline S.
Recently Pauline sent me the WWII group awarded to QX6676 DONALD RUSSELL MCPHERSON. I picked them up from the post office yesterday and put the name and number in to Google. To my surprise the first hit was a story about these medals being stolen in April from the daughter of McPherson.
It took me a bit of time to track down the reporter and the proper police station but that is all resolved.
The returned medal tally is now 648.

Eric Suhr

This is another occasion when I'm putting up a medal before we have resolved the search in the hope that exposure on the Internet might lead to a clue.
This is the Military Medal awarded to 11924 Eric James Suhr. He was a driver in the Army Service Corps and his MM was awarded for clearing wounded from a clearing station while under fire. The date of this action was 29/30 Aug 1918.
After the war Suhr returned to Melbourne where he was involved in a mechanic business with his father and brother. We know that in 1949 Suhr and his wife Betty Jean Suhr were living at Berfold, Castlemaine. There is also a bit of detail about his brothers and sisters that we are untangling, including a connection to a Miss Naomi Catherine Love who died on the 28 March 2004. Miss Love was the sister in law of Mildred Eileen Love(nee Suhr), the youngest sister of Eric James Suhr.

Corporal Thomas Michael LAHIFF

NX131474 Corporal Thomas Michael LAHIFF has proved to be a difficult man to track. Bill and Yuku really had to dig hard to track down a relative. Through electrol rolls, service records and BDM records we have located Lahiff's great grand nephew.
Lahiff died in 1978 and is buried at Botany Catholic Cemetery (now Eastern Suburbs memorial), where he joined his mother and his brother Joseph who died of phneumonia, while in hospital recovering from wounds recieved during WWI. Thomas' RSL Sub-Branch had to stepped in and pay for his funeral to excuse him a 'pauper's funeral', which truly is the greatest insult a nation can show to a soldier.
These medals are in as issued condition.
The returned medal tally is now 642.

Geer family medals

This afternoon I finalised a search which was very satisfying.

A little over a month ago I received several medal groups forwarded to me from the AWM with a request to try to locate the families. Two particular sets of medals intrigued me. The first was a WWI trio awarded to 572 John Geer, Ist Field Artillery Brigade, AIF. The second set was a WWII group of five awarded to 23740 John Edwin Geer RAN (know as Jack).

I was intrigued for several reasons. Firstly, John's number is rather low and as it turns out he enlisted in late August 1914. He arrived in Egypt in 1915 but was not sent to Gallipoli. He later saw service in France. Jack's RAN medals immediate stood out as the style of naming is quite different to Army medals. This can be seen in the picture. But most of all, it is uncommon to see a set awarded to father and son that are not still with the family.

I found a fair bit of information about the Geer family on a family tree website but not enough information to work out who was the closest relative by comparing names and initials in the White Pages.

The family tree site lead me to Jack's cousin on his mother's side of the family and when I spoke to him today I was more than a little surprised to discover that Jack is still alive. The only disappointment to me is that I didn't resolve this before Anzac Day 2010 so that the medals were back with the family for that remembrance. However, they'll have them for next year and many more to come.

The medal returned tally is now 640.