William Stephenson

This WWII group consisting of the 1939-45 Star, the Africa Star, the Pacific Star, the Defence Medal, the War Medal and the Australian Service Medal 1939-45 came to me via the Directorate of Honours and Awards. The group was awarded to QX4841 William Smith Stephenson.

I followed Bill through Trove newspaper articles rather than official records. The key to working out his family tree was a notice following Bill's death in August 1981. No children were mentioned in the notice but it did give the name of his brother in law. Through some reverse engineering of the NSW BDM records and electoral rolls I worked out the name of Bill's nephew. This is David who I just had a fascinating conversation with. David is an expert in philately and we eventually got on to the subject of the Australian Forces Post Office. Those who know me understand that mail was the subject that absorbed most of my time and effort during INTREFT.

Once again it was a pleasure to assist the Directorate of Honours and Awards. The returned medal tally is now 2648.

       

Vincent Hennessy

This is another case where the broader family story comes as a complete surprise once the initial research starts.

I recently received the Australian Service Medal 1939-1945 awarded to 126436 Vincent Hennessy. I found very little publicly available information about Vincent which wasn't assisted by the NOK details simply being 'M Hennessy'. It took some time and several unsupported assumptions to work out that Vincent's full name was Vincent John Hennessy. 

The name 'Vincent Hennessy' only appeared in two electoral rolls from the 1950s. Neither entry indicated Vincent was married so I was really running out of leads. I found 'Vincent John Hennessy' in a couple of Ancestry family trees which seemed to confirm my assumptions. These trees showed Vincent was the son of William and Mary Hennessy. Was Mary the 'M Hennessy' listed as the NOK? A message to Leanne who owns one of the trees confirmed that my assumptions were correct. Then came the surprise.    

Vincent was the brother of 437579 FSGT Kevin William Hennessy. Kevin was a crew member of Halifax LL459 which crashed on a night flying exercise on 8 June 1944. The crash occurred near the Yorkshire village of Hook.  The entire crew of six died. The links to the crash reports also have pictures of Kevin and his headstone.

Thanks to Pam H who sent me Vincent's medal and also to Julie H who assist me with this research. I'll send Leanne the medal in the near future,

The returned medal tally is 2642.

  

C Ferguson and C Wood

When I receive medals that come in the same parcel but with different names I try not make an immediate assumption the soldiers are connected in some way. However, when there is a connection it usually tells a story that I wasn't expecting.

In May 2020 I received four medals in the post from Margaret of South Australia. One was a British War Medal awarded to 3328 Charles Ferguson. Two others were a British War Medal and Victory Medal pair awarded to 13455 Charles Herbert Carbert Woods. The forth medal in the parcel was a bit of a surprise. It was a German Iron Cross dated 1914. Also with the medals was the original box of issue for Charles Ferguson's medals. 

I first started searching Charles Ferguson as he was killed in action on 12 October 1917. Charles was member of the 48th Battalion, AIF. With a date of death in October 1917 I surmised that Charles was killed during the Battle of Passchendaele. Charles has no known grave and is commemorated at Menin Gate. Charles service record contains several emotive letters from his father, John, seeking information about Charles possessions. John was of the opinion that Charles' possessions were stolen by other soldiers. This could not be proved but caused John much distress.

Charles' mother was Mary and I found her death notice on Trove. This gave me several leads about Charles' siblings. He had two sisters; Anne Maude and Lillian Chester. He also had a brother; Sydney John. 

I then turned to Charles Wood and saw that his next of kin was his wife; Lillian Chester Wood. Charles Wood and Charles Ferguson were brothers in law. Charles Wood was a Motor Transport Driver in the Auxiliary Mechanical Transport Company. Charles Wood's civilian occupation was as a Motor Transport Proprietor.

I found very little information about either of these families other than through Sydney Ferguson and it is his family that I'll return the medals to.

The returned medal tally is now 2641.   

 

N E Isaacs

When I looked at the obverse (front) of this 1939-45 Star it was exactly as I would expect it to be. However, the revere (back) was a bit surprising. The naming is modern laser engraving rather than being impressed. Also the name is in the lower third of the star rather than being central. I have no doubt that this is a genuine medal and is most likely a late issue.

This medal was awarded to NX157953 Norman Ernest Isaacs. Norman served as signalman in the Corps of Signals and after the war settled in western Sydney. Norman's medal was sent to me by the Pitt Town and Districts Sports Club which makes sense as it is close to where Norman and his family lived. 

My search led me to Norman's granddaughter, Jodie, but what I couldn't find was her contact details. Through a circuitous route which involved a message being passed by Norman's great grandson I've now contacted Jodie and will return this medal to her in the near future.

Jodie has provided me the following details about Norman:

'A brief background on my Pop is he served as a Signalman in Communications branch during the war travelling to many countries.

I have attached the only photo I have of him during the war. He is in the top row on the far right. When he returned he went back to his family home in Guildford then lived many years with my Nan at Fairfield whilst working as a painter. The best story was he painted the Channel 7 tower. Then when they retired he took my Nan and his beloved Torana and dog Kim on a tour of Queensland for a few years then they settled back on the Central Coast NSW at Lakehaven and they lived out their years there. He still had his Torana up until the day he passed! He loved the beach, fishing and his horse racing. He lived a fairly simple life and enjoy the simple pleasures.'

 

Thanks to Sara at the Pitt Town and Districts Sports Club who sent me the medal and to Jarrod, who also bares the Isaacs name.

The returned medal tally is now 2638.

Mitchell Kinnaird Mills

This is a medal that I've not handled before. It is the India General Service Medal (1936) with the clasp North West Frontier 1936-37. It has been interesting to do some research on this medal and also that is was awarded to a Corporal in the RAF.

The medal was awarded to 513357 CPL MK Mills. Initially I had some concerns about finding what this person's full name was, however this proved rather easy. Our man was Mitchel Kinnaird Mills. Armed with this rather unusual name combination I soon found Mitchell on an Ancestry tree owned by Tony who also shares the same middle name of Kinnaird.

Tony did some additional research and provided me the following information:    

There are three Mitchell Kinnaird Mills who served in RAF but two didn't join until 1941 and 1960 so they were not in India in 1936-37. Our Mitchell Kinnaird (1911-1961), service number 513357, joined RAF as an Aircraft Hand after October 1925 and served in India and Burma.

The medal was originally sent to me by Joy and Allan H but how it got to Australia since Mitchell died in the UK is a mystery.

The returned medal tally is now 2637.

Update 19 Sep 21

I have just received this great message and photo from the family of MK Mills:

This is my Mam, Lesley from the U.K. who received her fathers medal on the 16th Sept. To say we are chuffed to have this back home in the family is an understatement, as we thought it was gone forever.
Several medals were passed on down to Mitchell’s son (Mitchell Junior). MK Mills jnr lived in Aus from the 70’s and visited his mum Nancy in North of England in the mid 90’s. This is how it ended up in Aus when he took it back home after his six month visit. Unfortunately MK Mills jnr passed away in the mid 2000’s and where the medals went after that we don’t know.
This medal should stay in our family for generations as it will be passed down to myself and then my son as we all share the Kinnaird name.

Many thanks Glyn in returning these medals home to loved ones, you do a great job.
Thanks also to Tony in the UK for helping out and to Joy & Allan H for passing the medal over.