Henry George Gray

QX29762 Sapper Henry George Gray was a member of 2/1 Australian Port Operating Company. There are two really interesting things come out of Henry's service record. 

The first was that George was married to QF2772816 Ruth Winifred Pearl Gray. 

The second is that in 1957 George wrote to the Army requesting a replacement discharge certificate and medals.

The medals I have received are not marked with either an R, for replacement, or D, for duplicate, so these must be the original he reported lost in 1957. The replacement cost was 15 shillings and 6 pence.

Following the war, Henry moved to the Tableland Tin Ranch near Mt Garnet, QLD. However, I think Henry and Ruth separated at some point. There is no evidence they had children. Henry died in 1962 and is buried in the same plot as his mother, Isabella.

Thanks to Scott P who sent me the medals. I've recently contacted a family member who will arrange for the medal to be passed to Henry's niece.

The returned medal tally is now 2712.

 

Ralph Fox

This search started with a message from Aimee who found some WWII medals in a coat pocket at an op shop. 

The medals were awarded to NX45921 Ralph Fox. Ralph was 34 when he enlisted in June 1940. By March 1941 he was in the Middle East and went through the usual staging and onward movement steps. By April he was taken on strength of the 6th Division Provost Company and landed in Greece. As the German Army pushed south into Greece the majority of the 6th Division were sent to Crete where they were eventually captured and taken as POWs.

Ralph's service record indicates that he was initially reported as missing in action on 11 June 1941. However, he was confirmed to be a POW interned at Stalag Luft X-III-C on 10 Oct 1941. Ralph remained a POW until May 1945 when he was liberated and sent to England. Like many other POWs, Ralph's return to Australia was expedited and he was discharged in December 1945.

Ralph had several children and it is through his son Thomas that I contacted the family. However, while I knew all Ralph's grandchildren's names I wasn't able to find any contact details other than one of Ralph's grandsons who now lives in the US. I fired off a message and almost instantly heard back from Edward. He put me in touch with his sister and I've now connected the Fox family with Aimee.

Well done RAAF veteran Aimee for wanting to see these medal back with family.

The returned medal tally is now 2707.

WIA at Gallipoli

The WWI service record of 1813 PTE Frederick Henry Power consists of only nine pages. At first this was a little surprising until I saw that Frederick was wounded and as a result returned to Australia.

The service record shows that Frederick joined the 1st Battalion, AIF at Gallipoli on 26 May 1915. On 6 August 1915 he was wounded in action receiving gunshot wounds to his left arm, leg and foot. This is the battalion war diary entry for that date.

There is no specific mention of the casualties the battalion received, however, given the heavy fighting it is not surprising that casualties occurred.

Frederick was evacuated to the Hospital Ship Delta the next day and eventually returned to Australia and discharged on 7 September 1916.

I found Frederick listed on the family tree of Chloe M. The tree indicated that Chloe is Frederick's great great granddaughter so I sent her a message. Yesterday I received a call from Lyn who is Frederick's great granddaughter and I'll be returning Frederick's 1914-15 Star to her in the near future.

Thanks to Iain who safe hand delivered this medal to me a short time ago. And to Chloe for answering my message.

The returned medal tally is now 2701.

KIA at Lone Pine

Leo John Wyman was a 23 year old labourer living in Clare, South Australia when war broke out in Europe. He was an early enlistee into the 9th Light Horse Regiment. 

His service record is rather light on with his service details. It shows that he enlisted, departed Melbourne with the 9 LHR 3rd reinforcements and arrived at Gallipoli. Nothing remarkable, until 9 August 1915 when Leo was killed in action at the Battle of Lone Pine. Leo was originally buried at Russell's Top but late reburied at Walker's Ridge

The remainder of Leo's service record provides a few details about the administration that occurred after his family were notified of his death and indicates that he was awarded the WWI trio of medals. Unfortunately, the 1914-15 Star is missing.

Following Leo's family through the SA records was a little difficult and I had to make several assumptions. I eventually concluded that Leo's grandson was a prominent member of the SA Life Saving community. After contacting him, I was put in touch with Nicol, Leo's great granddaughter who I'll send the medals to in the near future.

The returned medal tally is now 2700. It is very nice that the first medals returned from the RSL Care SA bag take me past this milestone.

Thanks to Nicole from the South Port SLSC for connecting me to Leo's family.

Leo in uniform

Leo prior to enlistment

RSL Care SA bag of medals

Eleven years ago I received a box of medals from the NSW RSL. The trust the NSW RSL placed in me was a reflection of the relationship we had at the time and has continued to this day.

Last week I had a similar experience when Nathan from RSL Care SA presented to me a bag of medals which his organisation has been the custodian of for many years. I hope that in the next few months I can tell the stories of returning some of these medals to the families of the veteran who they were awarded to.