A Queen's South Africa Medal found in the post.

Not all medals are returned to a veteran or a family member. It is very common for medals to be in museum or private collections. It may be that either the recipient or their family sold the medals in the distant past and are now bought and sold like any other collectable item. It has been my experience that the vast majority of medal collectors research the person behind the medal and by doing so maintain the memory of that person.

This return is of a single medal that arrived in an Australia Post envelope. No explanation or other detail came with the medal. In the past this has usually occurred when the medal has come apart from the packaging due to the sorting machine destroying the envelope.

The medal alone is very interesting. It is a Queen's South Africa Medal awarded for service during the Second Boer War. This medals is impressed with the name 3242 PTE L Tucker Devon: Regt. I was a bit confused as I found a person by this name in a couple of medal rolls but the regimental number had one different digit. I decided to do just search the full name and number and immediately got a hit. This is the link with pictures:  

British – Victorian – India and South Africa Campaign Medal Group – De – Phalanx Militaria 

This is the sales description:

India General Service Medal with clasp 'Punjab Frontier 1897-98' (3242 Pte. L. Tucker. 1st Bn Devon Regt); Queen's South Africa Medal clasps 'Tugela Heights', 'Orange Free State', 'Relief of Ladysmith', 'Transvaal', 'Laing's Nek' (3242 Pte. L. Tucker. Devon. R.); King's South Africa Medal usual 2 year clasps (3214 Pte. L. Tucker Devon. Regt)

Lewis Tucker was born in Torquay, Devon. He joined the Devonshire Regiment at Exeter in 1891. He served in Egypt 1891-92 and then the East Indies for 6 years 1892-98, and was awarded the India Medal with clasp “Punjab Frontier 1897-98”. Following some home service he proceeded to South Africa and served during the Boer War for nearly 3 years 1899-1902. For this service he was awarded the QSA and KSA. Following his discharge, he rejoined the army seeing some service with the Royal Engineers for a short time. He volunteered during the First World War but did not see service overseas, thus his group of 3 medals represents his full entitlement. Note the different service number on the KSA, which is consistent with the medal roll. Likely a clerical error in the records.

The medal was awarded to Private Lewis Tucker and it does look like there was an administrative error which mixed up his regimental number slightly. Tucker was also awarded the India General Service Medal and the King's South Africa Medal. 

I sent a message to the business who sold the medals explaining my theory that the medals were lost in the post. It didn't take long to receive a reply from Adam of Phalanx Militaria who confirmed I was correct. Several months ago, Adam, who lives in Canada, sold the three medals to an Australian collector with the surname Tucker. Only the King's South Africa Medal arrived. Adam and Mr Tucker have been engaged with both the Canadian and Australian postal service trying to find the missing medals. Now that the Queen's South Africa Medal has been found, the search continues for the Indian General Service Medal.

An interesting anomaly on the reverse of the Queen's South Africa Medal is this:

The reverse, designed by G. W. de Saulles, shows Britannia holding the Union Flag in her left hand and a laurel wreath in her right hand. In the right background are troops marching inland from the coast. In the left background are two men-of-war, with Neptune's Trident and Britannia's shield on the ground in the foreground. Around the top perimeter are the words "SOUTH AFRICA". Three types of reverse exist.

The first medals were awarded to Lord Strathcona's Horse and bore the years "1899" and "1900" below Britannia's wreath, with the wreath almost touching the "R" of "AFRICA". Approximately fifty of these medals were awarded.

The years were machined off both the dies and the remaining minted medals, although 'ghost' years are sometimes still visible.

Subsequent mintings were done with new dies, without the years and with the wreath now almost touching the "F" of "AFRICA". This reverse was also used for the King's South Africa Medal.

This picture is of Lewis' QSA with the ghost dates.

 

I've also been in contact with Mr Tucker and will send him this medal in the coming days. The returned medal tally is now 3049.

Robert Bower - WWI pair

This return has several complications so I try to keep the explanation succinct.

This story started with a message from Darryl W who had the WWI pair awarded to 677A CPL Robert Bower. Darryl's father in law served in the RAN and one of his mates was R34273 George Kenneth Bower. Known as Ken, this was Robert's son. Ken did marry and this was to NF452704 Joan Muriel Henry. However, they didn't have any children and were divorced after a few years of marriage. 

When Ken died, Robert's medals passed to Darryl's wife's family and that has what has led to this research.

Robert had several siblings one was David Renfrew Bower. His son was 165909 AC Frank Bower who served in the RAAF during WWII. Frank had three sons; Carl, Ray and Kevin. Robert was from Wallsend in NSW and the successive generations have remained in the Newcastle area. I came across a social media post about a Wallsend school reunion and seeking to locate the Bower brothers. This search was successful. I contacted the reunion organiser and my details were passed to Kevin. 

Kevin had I spoke yesterday and he is very excited about getting his great uncles' medals back into the family.

Thank you to Darryl for sending me the medal and to Carl for connecting me with the Bower family. The returned medal tally is now 3048.

Rupert Walker - 1914-15 Star

This return is a collaborative effort with the Queensland Police Service.

It all started with an email from Constable JC who had received a 1914-15 Star. I was provided the following details.

Using this information, I confirmed the soldier was 1734 Driver Rupert Walker. As part of my research I came across this picture of Rupert.

Rupert Walker died in 1961. His wife was Chirstina and their daughter was Audrey Winifred who married Norman Adams. This information led me to the next two generations and identifying the name od Rupert's great grandson. What I couldn't find out was the current contact details of that person. 

I provided all this to Constable JC who located the great grandson and has arranged to return Rupert's 1914-15 star and a couple of other items to his family.

The returned medal tally is now 3049.

A A King

This search started with an email from Cooper K who told me:

In my family, we’ve had a box of medals passed down from my great great grandfather and great grandfather from ww1 and ww2. Recently in this box, I noticed the medals belonging to 2 other people; a victory medal and a British war medal belonging to Private A. A. King, 37th battalion (the same battalion as my great great grandfather), 2354, and a Korean War medal belonging to W. Harald, 171733. I was just hoping we could return these medals to their families so they can have them. 

When I accessed the service record for 2354 PTE Albert Arthur King the first this that was apparent is that he had a self inflicted wound. Ultimately, Albert was found guilty by a Field General Court Martial for shooting himself in the left foot. The charge says 'carelessly wounded himself in the foot'. What is specifically does' not say is the wound was intentional. This suggests to me this was accidental rather than a premeditated effort to get away from the front. Albert continued to serve in roles other than as an infantry solider which reinforces the accidental nature of his wound.  

I have been in contact with Albert's great niece and will send the medals to her shortly.

The search for the family of W Harald continues.

The returned medal tally is now 3046.

R S Hayes, RAN

This search started after I was contacted by Natasha who had found two medals amongst her husband's grandfather's possessions and was seeking to have them returned to the veteran's family.

The medals were awarded to two different servicemen and this story is about the Defence Medal awarded to PM3737 Ronald Sydney Hayes. Once I saw the service number I knew Ronald served in the Royal Australian Navy and his home port was the Port of Melbourne as indicated by the letters PM.  

The RAN service record of this period are usually only two pages but the basics are all recorded including the next of know details. Following his discharge, Ronald returned to Melbourne and worked as a blacksmith's striker. There is no evidence that Ronald married or had children. 

I found Ronald on an Ancestry tree which had not been accessed for over a year but did have the tree owner's name viewable. I found the same name on social media so took a punt and sent off a message. Sure enough I found the correct family. This is Lisa who confirmed she is Ronald's great niece.

An additional piece of information provided by Natasha is that the house where the medals were found was often a halfway house for other veterans so this may explain how they got there.

The retuned medal tally is now 3044.

Father and son medals

This search started after I received a message from Benjamin G who told me, 'years back my parents where given a box containing war medals'. Benjamin also provided the photos I've included below which included the service details of two soldiers with the same surname.

Firstly, the 1914-15 Star was awarded to SS-1880 PTE Walter Henry Watson who served in the British Army during WWI. Secondly, the Africa Star was awarded to QX21531 Noel Frank Watson. Noel was Walter's son.

Noel's service record contains some interesting correspondence about his medals. 

In 2016, Noel's grand daughter wrote to Defence claiming the 1939-45 Star for Noel. This is because the regulations about the awarding of this medal to those who received the Africa Star changed in the mid 1990s. The following three pictures are the initial letter, a picture of Noel's group at the time and the page from Noel's service record where he elected to receive the Africa Star.

What has confused me a little bit is the existence of the Africa Star in Noel's group and the one pictured by Benjamin. Without a close inspection of the star in the picture above it is a bit hard to theorise what has occurred. 

Noel's granddaughter has kindly given me permission to include this picture of Noel during his overseas service. She has also provided a copy of a newspaper article published in recent years and tells the story of Noel and his brother Robert who meet up during the war having not seen each other for 14 years.

I've connected Benjamin and Noel's grand daughter and the medals will be returned in the near future.

The returned medal tally is now 3045.

WWI KIA - George Phillips

This British War Medal arrived in the post one day with no information about who sent it. The medal was awarded to 2176 PTE George Henry Phillips of the Hampshire Regiment who was a little difficult to pin down as he had three numbers during his WWI service; 2176, 7/2176 and 305852.

Once I had this last number, 305852, all became a bit clearer. George was killed in action on 21 January 1916 in Mesopotamian, now Iraq, He is memorialised at the Basra Memorial. 

What I haven't been able to find out is the exact circumstances of George's death while serving with the Hampshire Regiment. However, this link is to a history of the regiment's campaign in Mesopotamia. Specifically, this is what is recorded as having occurred on the date George was killed:

On 21 January the Relief Force attacked at El-Hanna in atrocious conditions. Thick mud made the movement of troops and equipment difficult and the Turks had had time to improve their defences which were a mile in depth. Among the attacking British force were 345 men of the 1/4th Hampshires who were particularly eager for success given that many of their comrades were trapped inside Kut.

The attack was a disaster. After shelling the Turkish positions, the British and Indian troops advanced in heavy rain over flat ground which afforded neither cover nor surprise. The 9th Brigade, which four 1/4th Hampshires had managed to infiltrate, attempted reinforce a group of around 60 men who had got within 50 yards of the Turkish trenches. However, they were quickly driven back.

On a day of heavy casualties, the Hampshires suffered particularly badly. They went into battle with 16 officers and 339 other ranks and came out with three and 64 respectively.

George was 24 years old when he died. He had two brothers and three sisters. I looked at all these siblings and all but one remained in England where they died. One brother, William, emigrated to New Zealand where he died in 1965. I've been unable to find any link as to how this medal ended up in Australia.  

I've been in touch with a descendant of George's sister Alice who I will send the medal to in the near future.

The returned medal tally is now 3043.

Ernest O'Neale

These two medals awarded for service during WWII were sent to me by the Directorate of Honours and Awards after they had been handed in. Ernest Richard O'Neale was easy to locate on the DVA WWII nominal roll with the number NX165034. However, I couldn't locate his record on the National Archives of Australia. 

On the DVA roll is also another number, 245084, and Ernest's discharge date is 1 Jul 48. This suggests that Ernest initially enlisted in the 2nd AIF and remained in the Army post WWII and became part of the restructured Australian Army. Unfortunately, I can't see the different aspects of Ernest's service during WWII.

I found Ernest on an Ancestry family tree which is owned by his nephew. I'll send these medals back to the family in the near future.

The returned medal tally is now 3043.

WWI WIA - Henry Tuck

This WWI War Medal awarded to 8071 PTE Henry Edward Tuck is another medal from Tasmania sent to me by Peter W.  

Henry first enlisted, aged 19, on 15 Marcy 1917 but was discharged as medically unfit only 15 days later. However, he was successfully in enlisting on 5 October 1917. On 23 August 1819, Henry was wounded in action. He received a gunshot wound to the right hand and chest. 

Henry died in 1971 and I have recently been in touch with his great grand son who I'll return the medal in the near future.

The returned medal tally is now 3041.

RAAF Military Working Dog Stella

This is an interesting return and a first for me.

This commemorative medal was sent to me by my contact at Defence Honours and Awards. Pictured is the Australian Defence Force Trackers and War Dogs Association, Canine Service Medal awarded to RAAF Military Working Dog 2213 Stella.

The search for Stella led me to Ray, a director of the retired MWD program. Stella is now retired and lives with her handler Drew. I have Stella's address and will send her medal to her, well to Drew, later this week

The returned medal tally is now 2040. 

Athol Bernard Healey

Another medal from the Peter W collection.

Athol Healey initially served in the militia with the number T42956 before transferring to the 2nd AIF with the number TX11620. He was a bit older than most soldiers enlisting at the age of 37. A read over his service record shows multiple periods of AWOL and the odd detention. 

I've been in contact with the Healey family and I'll send them this medal in the near future.

The returned medal tally is now 3039.

Partick 'Paddy' Maher

This is the second return of a medal from the Peter W collection.

2869 PTE Patrick Maher, know as Paddy, enlisted on 11 August 1915 at the age of 21. His occupation was listed as a plasterer. He was initially allocated to 12th Battalion but subsequently served in the 26th Battalion, AIF. He also spent time in other battalions which I suspect was mainly for administrative purposes. 

There are two notable occurrences in Paddy's service record. On 27 July 1917 he was wounded in action. He received a gun shot wound to his thigh. As a result he was evacuated and hospitalised in England. He was not discharged until August 1918.  

The second notable occurrence was he was AWOL from 1 October 1918 to 22 October 1918. He was awarded 21 days detention. Paddy was discharged from detention on Armistice Day.

Paddy died in 1956. I've been in touch with Paddy's great great granddaughter and will send her this medal in the near future.

The returned medal tally is now 3038.

WJ Barden - KIA

I was recently contacted by a Peter W who I have a connection with through military history research. Peter has forwarded to me 12 medals which he asked to be researched and returned to the veteran's families. The main link to all these medals is they are were awarded to Tasmanians.

This story is the first success for the peter W collection.

Walter Barden was 28 years old when he enlisted on 8 February 1916. He lists his occupation as a labourer but had previously completed an apprenticeship as a blacksmith. Walter was originally allocated to the 12th Battalion, AIF but transferred to the 40th Battalion, AIF on 23 September 1916. Walter headed to France in November 1916 and spent a bit of time in hospital over the Christmas - New Year period. 

While fighting in France, Walter was killed in action on 30 April 1917. He is buried in the Strand Military Cemetery. 

Walter's sister was Ellen and I have recently been in contact with her grand daughter, Marilyn. This  story was very much kept alive by the family and Marilyn still has all the documentation that was received about Walters burial. 

Walter's brother Arthur also served in WWI. He survived but was gassed which he never fully recovered from.

The returned medal tally is now 3037.

Walter Barden

Neil 'Fox' Mason

Fans of the film The Dish are going to enjoy this story.

I received an Australian Defence Medal awarded to Neil Francis Mason, know as Fox, from Col W of the Isis RSL sub-branch. Fox was awarded this medal for fulfilling his National Service obligation but it is his civilian career which is far more fascinating and will be familiar to many.

Fox was a member of the CSIRO staff at the Parkes radio telescope. He was part of the team during the Apollo 11 lunar landing. Specifically, 'Present in the control room were the NASA personnel, John Bolton, Dr Taffy Bowen, the PMG senior technical officer, Brian Coote, and Neil 'Fox' Mason, who was the driver given the responsibility to operate the dish at this historic moment.'

A more detailed description of the events of that day are at this link:

On Eagle's Wings: The Story of the Parkes Apollo 11 Support

This link is the ABC news story about the 40th anniversary of the landing.

Fond memories of 'the dish' for moon-landing veterans - ABC News

Fox was married to Ethel (Winkie) Phillips. He died in 2017 and is buried in the Parkes cemetery.

I have been in contact with Lynne from the Mason family and will be sending her Fox's medal in the near future. I was assisted in contacting Lynne through her cousin Barry.

The returned medal tally is now 3031.

WWI KIA - John (Jack) Alfrey Porter

Note: there are some issues with the links to Trove and other research resources. Redirections occur, but the page will open.

This pair of WWI medals are as well travelled as the soldier who was awarded them. Sadly, the soldier did not make his journey home as he was killed in action on 24 April 2017.

The Porter family was very prominent in colonial Australia. John Alfrey Porter was one of the early administrators of both New South Wales and Victoria. The soldier whose medals are being returned is also named John Alfrey Porter. This is two articles about the grandfather. This link is to his obituary:

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/241180009?searchTerm=%22John%20Alfrey%20Porter%22

This link details the John's will which shows how well off the family was.

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/202700572?searchTerm=%22John%20Alfrey%20Porter%22

Unfortunately, the family suffered a scandal. While the whole story is interesting the section about the Porters is in the left hand column.

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/201744494?searchTerm=%22John%20Alfrey%20Porter%22

There is another interesting story related to this family through the descendants of Jack Porter's sister Mary. Mary's son was John Villars, a philanthropist who established the John Villar's Trust for the benefit of Queensland communities. John's bio can be found at this link:

https://jvtrust.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/John-Villiers-Biography.pdf

Now to 29952 PTE 20052 PTE John Alfrey Porter. Know as Jack, PTE Porter served in the 1st Battalion of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. This was a regiment of the British Army. Unfortunately, the UK records are not a complete as those for the first AIF so I don't has much in the was of service details of Jack. The circumstances of him enlisting in a British Army regiment can only be speculated on. Usually this occurred when the individual was in the Britan rather then in Australia at the out break of war. What is known is that Jack was killed in action on 24 April 1917 at Monchy-le- Preux, France. He is commemorated at the Arras Memorial.

Private John Alfrey Porter | War Casualty Details 1604369 | CWGC

His mother published the following death notice in May 1917.

Jack's medals were sent to me by Jane C. They have been well looked after over the years. I have been in touch with a descendant of Jack's sister Ellen. This is Linden, who tells me that Ellen 'was close to her brother and was very affected by this death'. 

Thank you to Jane who sent me the medals. The returned medal tally is now 3030.

Discharge certificate - WWII

 Yesterday I received a message from Luke about a WWII discharge certificate he had come across and was seeking to return it to the family. The soldier was V72829 PTE Percival Pinne.

It was easy to follow Percival through the public records due to a reasonably uncommon surname. What was more difficult was working out the name of the current generation. Percival's headstone gives the name of his daughter, Jillian, and the Victorian BDM records confirmed her married name was Brown. This when things got a bit complicated having moved the search to a more common surname. Jillian and her husband Roger has a daughter named Riki which became the key to the rest of the search. Roger's online obituary page credits some phots to Riki and her married name is included. 

Social media proved to be the best way to search for Riki and within 30 minutes of commencing, I was explaining to Riki all about this search and connecting her with Luke. 

They are now making arrangements about how best to hand this certificate over which may even involve them meeting in the near future.

Thomas Carseldine

This return is the second lot of medals sent to me recently by Charlie S. These are the Pacific Star and Australian Service Medal 1939-45 awarded to QX13582 Thomas Carseldine. Thomas was also awarded 1939-45 Star, the Africa Star, the Defence Medal and the War Medal.

Thomas was 39 years old when he enlisted and saw a lot of overseas service as a gunner in the 1st Anti Tank Regiment. (I've corrected Thomas' age. I should have paid better attention to the service record. He was 39 not 59)

 

Thomas was single and died in 1975. He was from a large family and it is though his brother Frank, that I've recently contacted the current generation.

Thanks to Charlie who sent me these as well as the Stoker medals. The returned medal tally is now 3027.