Post update

I've recently been provided a photo of Wilfred Smith and the post has been updated. 

Lost Medals Australia: 3rd Light Horse Regiment KIA

R McI Rogers

Two of the medals awarded to NX167650 Robert McIlveen Rogers were sent to me in 2014 by the Ipswich RSL. I thought the unusual middle name might make the search straight forward but I was wrong. All public information abruptly stopped in 1980 which put a pause on the research

As part of my recent review of some old searches I came across a family tree which included Robert. This afternoon, in response to my message via Ancestry.com, I received a call from Robert's daughter. This is Margaret, who has kindly shared a photo of Robert wearing his full medal entitlement.

We have come to the conclusion that these two medal were with another family member before being given to the RSL and then forwarded on to me. 

I find it interesting that Robert's middle name is depicted as McI on the medal.

The retuned medal tally is now 3023. 

William Henry Lee - WWI pair

Another search I revisited recently has now been successful following the additional of some family details added to Ancestry.com.

I was first contacted on 11 May 2018 by James F who had come across two WWI medals during the clean up of a deceased estate. This was in Dudley, Newcastle, NSW. The medals were awarded to 7015 William Henry Lee. William's service record is pretty straight forward, except for one document which gives the details of an English lady he married in Bedford, UK, in 1917. This was Mabel May Bettles. After WWI the settled in Newcastle. 

It appears that some time around 1931, William and Mable divorced. He then married Julia in 1935. Julia was also divorced and he several children from his previous marriage.

William died in 1944 and it is his death notice which gave me the first series of clues about his decendants.

 William's grave is rather simple.

After revisiting this search almost 8 years to the day that James originally contacted me, I was able to narrow down the family I was looking for thanks to new information being posted online. William's medals, which look to have had a hard life, will soon be reunited with other medals from his broader family.

The returned medal tally is now 3021. 

 

Bert Potter's WWII medals

The search for the family of S20848 Bert Potter started when I received a message from Wayne G following a referral from RSL Care SA. Wayne had purchased these medal and was kindly trying to return them to Bert's family. 

As I've mentioned many time, South Australia has not released records which help searches like this. Electoral rolls are a usual start point when trying to confirm residential locations and the names of others in that house hold. As a result is took a bit of time to work out that Bert did not marry. Luckly. a few Ancestry tress included his wider family so I was able to draw some tentative threads to the current generation. Based simply on a link to a geographic location, I contacted a lady who indeed is a member of the Potter family and from there connected her with Wayne to coordinate the return of the Bert's medals. 

The returned medal tally is now 3019.

WWI trio - Albert Hampstead

I've worked with Sabina previously on research for lost medals. She recently contacted me again about the WWI trip awarded to 3332 Albert William Hampstead.

It didn't take me long to identify Albert's family tree and work out the name of the current generation. Through a combination of information from Ancesrty.com and social media Sabina and I narrowed down the contact details of a descendant of Albert. Sabina contacted that person and as it turns out, Albert's 96 year old daughter is still alive. 

This was a wonderful collaboration to see three more medals returned to the family.

The returned medal tally is now 3014.

3rd Light Horse Regiment KIA

I have a great contact through the Army Museum network who is also involved in the Launceston RSL. This is Pete W and we recently had a discussion about a number of medals which needed to be researched and returned to the families. Pete sent me these medals recently and I hope to publish a number of stories in the near future about the soldiers and their medals.

The first medal from this collection to be returned was awarded to 1396 PTE Wilfred Smith. Wilfred was a member of the 3rd Light Horse Regiment. He was 31 years old when he enlisted on 27 July 1915. Wilfred was married to Kathleen and they had a baby daughter, Ida Gloria. 

After joining his regiment in early 1916, Wilfred fought in the Battle of Romani. He was killed in action on 4 August 1916. Even though his service record states he was buried in the field and the burial was officiated by a chaplain, he is recorded as having no know grave. Wilfred is commemorated on the Jerusalem War Memorial.

I found Wilfred's details on an Ancestry family tree which is owned by his great grandson. This is Keith who also lives in Tasmania. I'll send him Wilfred's British War Medal in the near future.

The returned medal tally is now 3011.

Update: 15 May 26

Thank you to Keith who has provided this picture of Wilfred.

Laurie Cartwright and a direct family connection to these WWII medals

An advantage of not working full time now is that I can revisit some of the longer term research tasks I have. This afternoon I pulled out the index card for the medals awarded to NX9218 Laurence Cartwright not thinking I would have much success. 

I received Laurie's WWII group of five in 2009 from the Directorate of Honours and Awards after they were handed. At the time Laurie's service record had not been digitised on the NAA and there was limited information on Ancestry. Today's review threw up two pieces of information which were the key to contacting Laurie's nephew.

Sometimes, his first name is spelt Lawrence and he had a middle name of Culshaw which only appears once in Australin records. Laurie was born in New Zealand in 1913. He moved to Sydney prior to the outbreak of WWII and was one of the early enlistees as can be seen by his low service number.

After the war, Laurie and his wife, Winifred lived at several address in the Sydney North Shore. Once I worked out his name variations, I came across an Ancestry family tree which it turns out, belongs to Laurie's nephew. This is Chris from New Zealand and the son of Laurie's sister. 

Chris has provided me some great information and family anecdotes. Chris met Laurie and Win when they visited New Zealand in the 1950s. The description Chris gives is that Laurie lived a carefree lifestyle including living for a time on a motor launce on the Hawksbury River.

Chris and his family lived for a while in Sydney and got to now Laurie and Win better. However, tragedy struck when Laurie was killed in 1968/9 while riding his scooter. Chris tells me that even though he retuned to New Zealand in 1973, he remained close to Win until her death in 1990.

It is becoming less common for a family member I contact to have a direct link to WWII veterans. These medals will be sent to Chris in the near future with a whole lot of new information about his uncle once I can access his service record. 

The returned medal tally is now 3010.

T/CPL Norman George Robert

As the popularity of Anzac Day continues to grow I continue to be heartened by the interest shown in our military history and for our veterans. At this time of year I receive an upturn in enquires about medals that have been lost or other which have been held be families with no known connection to the veteran. Last night I received a referral via a friend to an online question about returning three WWII medals.

Following a series of messages, Patrick told me he had the medal awarded to SX16643 Norman George Robert. The medals had previously been in the possession of another family member but why will remain a mystery.

This picture of Norman is from his WWII service record

Norman was from South Australia which, as I've mentioned previously, is a difficult state to do family research based the lack availability of public records. There was no evidence that Norman and his wife, Evelyn had children but beyond a 1982 death date for Norman I couldn't find much else. However, I found Norman's parents included on an Ancestry family tree. Within a couple of hours of sending the tree owner a message I was talking to Norman's niece. This is Jane and shortly, I'll connect her with Patrick so that the medals can be back with Norman's family.

The returned medal tally is now 3005.

LAC Keith Crowne

This return was a real community effort. A fortnight ago, Kara posted on social media, a picture of a group of four WWII medals she was seeking to return. Several people shared the post with me or provided Kara with my contact details.  

The medals were awarded to 136723 LAC Keith Edward Crowne who served in the RAAF during WWII. 

Keith was a sheet metal worker before the outbreak of the war so his skills would have been of considerable importance to the war effort both in a civilian capacity and in uniform.

Keith's life was easy to follow through the public records. Luckly. I found him on a family tree which gave me a clue to the surname of a member of the current generation. It took a bit of an educated guess to narrow down the best person to contact, but a distinctive name combination led me to Keith's grand daughter, Anita. 

I've now connected Kara and Anita so that the physical return of the medals can be arranged. 

Thank you to all the people who made a referral or put Kara in touch with me. This is a great outcome just before Anzac Day and also marks passing the 3000th returned medal milestone.  

The returned medal tally is now 3002.

SGT Eric McCormack - RAAF WW2

This search took about 24 yours in total but some conflicting information made the search for the family of Eric John McCormack that bit harder.

Eric's WW2 RAAF service record provided all the basics I needed. Some post war letters included in the record help me to confirm he was still alive in 1985. However, multiple family trees on Ancestry indicated he died in 1977. This took me down a rabbit hole until I established that a person with exactly the same name died in Sydney in 1977 where as Eric lived in Melbourne.

Once that confusion was sorted out, I focused my search on Tasmania where Eric was born in 1911. To the best of my knowledge, Eric did not marry so I started looking at the families of his many siblings. Several other brothers service during WW2 including Alexander Mark McCormack and Phillip Sylvester McCormack.

I found a death notice for Phillip which helped me verify all the family connections and finally led me to the decedents of another brother, Hector.

I've just been in contact Hector's great grand daughter. I'll return the medal to her. Hopefully, they will arrive by Anzac Day, no pressure Australia Post.

The returned medal tally is now 2998.

 

Infantry, Camel Corps and Australian Light Horse

It has taken over 22 years to successfully conclude this search.

I received the British War Medal awarded to 607 LCPL Sydney John Hopkins in 2004. Sydney served in the 15th Battalion, AIF, the Camel Corps and the 11th Light Horse Regiment. He was 30 years old when he enlisted. He made it to Gallipoli but the vast majority of his service record is about the treatment he received for contracting VD and his time in and out of hospital.

After WWI Sydney was an itinerant worker in Queensland showing up in the Ipswich and Central Queensland electoral rolls. He enlisted for WWII and spent some time in the 15 Garrison Battalion before being medically discharged. This link is to his WWII service record.

On Sydney's WWI attestation pagers he gave his NOK as his father, Mr J Hopkins at an address in West Ham, East London,. This information was then amended in 1917 after his father died and his NOK became his sister, Ms L Hopkins of 31 Elmhurst Rd, Forest Gate, London. In 1937 he applied for a replacement discharge certificate and give his sister's address as 48 Stopford Rd, Forest Gate.

In 2004 the amount of information available on the internet was limited and I got no where with the Forest Gate connection. Over the years I revisited this search as more information was put on Ancestry.com. In 2020 I stumbled across a 1911 UK census entry for the Hipkins family which listed the head of the family as Joseph William Hipkins, his wife and 7 children including Sydney John (12) and Louise (10). The only common information was that their address was 48 Stopford Rd, Forest Gate. There were too may similarities to be a coincidence but I needed proof that Sydney used the name Hopkins rather than Hipkins. I did find an immigration record that a Sidney J Hipkins departed London and arrived in Melbourne in 1911 but there was nothing other than the name similarities to connect this record with Hopkins.

I revisited this search a few days ago and found a bit more information as well as the Hipkins family tree on Ancestry. I contacted Jane, the tree owner who is a descendent of the Hipkins family and the Hopkins information didn't quite align with the documented information. 

So I stated from scratch. All I could find in common was the 48 Stopford Rd address. Joseph William Hipkins died in Oct 1916 and it was in Apr 1917 that Sydney changed his NOK details as his father was deceased. Another coincidence but nothing conclusive. 

I looked at Sydney Hipkins siblings as listed in the 1911 census to see if that was the key.

One brother, Percy Arthur Hipkins served in the Royal Garrison Artillery during WWI but nothing came from that rabbit hole.

I than found another brother, Cecil John Hipkins also service in the RGA as a Lieutenant. With out much expectation I looked at Cecil's Medal Index Card which usually gives the barest of information. To my complete surprise Cecil's address is included on the MIC: 31 Elmhurst Rd, Forest Gate. The same address as Sydney gave for his sister Louise when he changed his NOK details. That was the proof I needed to confirm that Sydney John Hipkins and Sydney John Hopkins were the same person.

Sydney died in 1956 and is interned in Ipswich, QLD.

Sydney's 1914-415 Star and Victory Medal are noted on his service record as having been returned after his death in 1959. How the BWM came loose and eventually found its way to me is a mystery. I'll send this medal off to Jane in the near future.

The returned medal tally is now 2996.

LAC Yeates - WWII group of four

I have recently revisited several searches that have stalled for one reason or another. This particular search commenced in 2016 when I received four WWII medals awarded to 308282 LAC Cyril James Yeates from the Delegate RSL.

Cyril was 19 years old when he enlisted in 1941 and served as a cook's assistant. His service record consists of 55 pages which are mostly routine entries although his conduct record has some interesting entries. Despite a civil offence of larceny he was rated as having good conduct. 

Cyril died in 1957 having never married. My search then took me down the family line of his aunty Florence Digney (nee Yeates). The Yeates and Digney families lived in Tasmania but I soon ran out of leads to contact a living relative. That is where I put the research aside until earlier this week when I had another look on Ancestry and found Cyril on a Digney family tree. The tree owner, Lorraine, called me this morning and we determined the best person to become the custodian of the medal is a great grand nephew of Cyril's.

Through Lorraine the medals will soon be with another generation of the Digney family which has a long family military history, including a forebear who fought at Waterloo with Wellington.

The returned medal tally is now 2995. 

  

VS Murray WWII group of three which should be four

These three medals were awarded to NX50855 Vincent Sullivan Murray. I suspect that the War Medal is missing from the group as the ribbon for this medal is in the original packaging Vincent received. This entitlement is confirmed in his service record.

Vincent did marry after the War, however, he divorced and did not have any children. On his enlistment papers, Vincent listed his brother William as his NOK. William had a daughter and through this family line I was able to contact Vincent's great nephew.

The medals came to me anomalously. The donor found them when the house of a hoarder was cleaned out. This kind person contacted the Directorate of Honours and Awards who passed on my details. Vincent's medals were saved from being thrown in a skip and will now be sent to his family.

I've included a picture of Vincent from his service record. Of note is that the 1939-45 Star is engraved, rather than impressed. A reference book I have note that hand engraving occurred in the 1970 when stars that were originally issued as blank were returned for official naming. 

The retuned medal tally is now 2991. 

WWII and LSGC group to RAN

This group of WWII medals has a couple of additional medals which tell a broader story of service than would appear on first glance.

I received these medals from the NSW RSL. They were awarded to Chief Petty Officer Cook Keith Ernest Hind. Keith enlisted in to the Royal Australian Navy in 1927 and discharged in 1949. This length of service entitled him to the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal  (George VI version) which is the second last in his group. The last medal is the Philippine Liberation Medal.

Keith died in 1982 having never married so I traced a relative through his sisters line. I'll soon send Keith's medals to his niece Diane.

Thanks to Ivan from the NSW RSL who sent me the medals. The returned medal tally is now 2988.

Defence Force Service Medal

This return has more than the usual number of coincidence.

Today, I received an email from Brianna of the Vietnam Veterans Federation, Granville, NSW. Brianna told me that a Defence Force Service Medal had been handed in many years ago and successive attempts to find the owner had come to naught. Brianna further went on to say: 

    'Unfortunately, I do not have the details of who specifically handed the medal in to the organisation         as this occurred before my time here, and allegedly many years ago to the point where employees         had stopped searching after being unable to locate the owner'.

Thankfully, Brianna took up the challenge and contacted Defence Honours and Awards who provided her my contact details. The name was familiar to me and it took an hour or so to narrow down the recipient to a chap I served with in the 2nd Cavalry Regiment in the mid 1980s. We all know him as Sweed.

Sweed is a member of our regiment olds and bolds social media page so I got in contact to make sure I had the correct person. Sure enough I had the right soldier. I've connected Brianna and Sweed so the medal can be returned. Sweed tells me he thought the medal was lost after a house fire at a friend's place. How it eventually turned up at the Vietnam Veterans Federation will remain a mystery.

Thank you to my wonderful 2 Cav Regt friends how bought my message to Sweed's attention.

The returned medal tally is now 2981.