Donald Hickman

The WWII service of S213610 Donald Stanley Hickman seems to be quite unremarkable. He was a militia member who did not serve overseas. What appears to be more intriguing is the journey that his medals have travelled.
I received the medals from Richard M who lives in Lafayette, California. How they got to the USA is anyone's guess. While the obverse and reverse of the medals are in good condition the rim seems to be scratched. I wonder if somewhere along the line someone has tried to remove the naming.
Once I received the medals from Richard I found Donald listed on an Ancestry  family tree. The owner wasn't able to to help but very kindly put me in touch with a Hickman family member in South Australia. This new lead proved very successful and today I received the phone number of Donald's son. We have since had a very nice conversation and I'll send him the medals shortly. However, the mystery still remains as to how these medals ended up in Lafayette.
Thanks to Richard for the medals, Karen for the connection to Robin and to Robin for tracking down Lance.
The returned medal tally is now 1286.