Tom Hanlon

I continue to be amazed at the connections that Bill and I make through Internet searches that enable us to link one part of a story to many others and eventually lead to a successful return.
This story started with an email I received from Kathy M who had the WWII medals awarded to NX150098 Thomas John Hanlon. Tom died in 1943, he drowned while crossing a river in PNG.
Tom wasn't married so I started to look at his siblings. One brother was named Jeston which made searching for him pretty easy. That is when all the connections came together. I soon found this amazing article about the Hanlon family. What I couldn't find was the contact details of the author, Joyce Overton, who was Jeston's daughter and Tom's niece. However, in her article, Joyce wrote 'When I attended one of my first meetings of the Historical Society'. A search soon found that a Joyce Overton is named as an Office Bearer for the Canterbury Historical Society. I fired of an email to the Society and very soon the Society President was putting all the pieces in place for me to connect Kathy and Joyce.
I think Joyce's story about Jessamine tells the family story pretty well.
Thanks to Kerin for all your assistance. The returned medal tally is now 2194

Here is Jeston mowing the lawn in 1924.