Charles Pertel

This search is another that started after receiving a box of medals from the WA RSL. The British War Medal awarded to 2595 Charles Pertel has had a hard life as can be seen in the photos. The suspender is bent and loose, the edge is damaged and the surface is pitted. All that really doesn't matter as the naming is still quite clear.
Charles was born in Russia in 1889, he arrived in Australia, via New York on 5 November 1908. After WWI he settled in Broken Hill and married Edith White. They had one daughter, Ruby May Pertel.
Charles appears to have enlisted for WWII but the records are incomplete. He died in 1942. There was then a big gap that I couldn't fill until I came across the wedding notice of Ruby to Hugh Carney in the Broken Hill newspaper via Trove. I was able to follow Ruby and Hugh through to 1980 when the on-line electoral rolls cease. The last entry gave me the name Jan Carney at the same address but there the trail went cold. I had to go back to the 1930s to work out who Hugh's brothers were. This branch of the family was a bit easier to follow and I soon found a likely candidate in the White Pages. Shortly after I was provided with Jan's phone number. We have just spoken and I now know that Ruby is still alive.
Thanks to Wendy at the WA RSL.
The returned medal tally is now 1645