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This is a very short story for a very quick return.
The search started with a Facebook post on a genealogy page about the search of the family of Jean May Martin who served in the RAAF during WWII. One of her medals had been found by Katrina who reached out for assistance and my friend Sandra referred Katrina to me. It took about 5 minutes to link Jean and her family via Ancestry. A message to the tree owner connected Katrina with Jean's family.
The returned medal tally is now 2864.
One of my most enduring partnerships is with the Directorate of Honours and Awards. The staff will often receive medals from the public with a request to have them returned to the veteran. I'm more than happy to assist by doing the research to find either the veteran or their family. Donna B is one of the kind staff members who forwards me the lost medals they receive. She recently sent a package of several medals which included a WWII group of four medals awarded to S5325 Galvan Solomon Thompson, RAN.
Galvin married Lorna Mavis Goodwin but there is no evidence they had any children. Through an Ancestry family tree I've been able to contact Holly, a member of Galvan and Lorna's broader family. Holly will soon be passing the medals to the most appropriate family member to be the custodian.
The returned medal tally is now 2867. There are a few slightly interesting points about these medals. As was the RAN policy at the time, the stars were not name, however, the circular medals were. The group is mounted with the circular medals facing the wrong way. And these medals have been polished with Brasso, any soldier will recognise the white residue of dried Brasso that has filled the impressed naming.
When a set of duplicate medals is sent to me it means that not only the original issued group have been lost but also the official replacement set. This link is to a post which explains all about duplicate medals.
These medals were awarded to N245888 William Edward Meridith and from his service record I can see he received the original medals in 1955. Over the years he lost his discharge certificate twice and applied for a replacement. There is no correspondence on his file about him having lost his medals. It would have been interesting to see the reason why as official replacement medals are only provided under specific circumstances. Also with the medals is a copy 1939-45 Star.
William's medals were sent to me by Janine S who came across them in her uncle's possessions. How they came to be there is not known. I started this search yesterday and found William on an Ancestry family tree owned by Margaret. It is a bit of a complicated family connection. However, William raised his grandson who lives NSW, his son, William's great grandson, will be visiting Margaret in the near future. I'll send William's medals to Margaret tomorrow and not long after that they will be passed to his grandson.
The returned medal tally is now 2863.
This is a summary of a recent online conversation I had:
Hi Lost Medals Australia, I'm currently helping out a guy who has found some WW2 medals whilst doing a renovation on a home he purchased in 1999.
With research, we have found that the medals belonged to Australian Flight Sergeant John William Houseman service number 424634, born 12.9.1922 and died 21.7.1944. He was seconded to RAF 626 Squadron and was a rear air gunner on a Lancaster bomber (that was attacked by a JU 88) which crashed at Zietenary ou Zoetenaise, Belgium. He was single and childless at the time, aged 22 years.
The medals were forwarded to his sister Betty Estelle Richman, nee Houseman. Betty passed away in 2014. She and her husband adopted two girls and the girls had 3 sons according to her husband's obituary in 1997. We have tried local newspapers, family history sites and local RSL with no success.
Hi and thank you for your message, I can do one better. The daughters are Jennifer Jane and Ann Margaret. Jennifer married Alex. Their son is Ben. Sadly Jennifer died in 2015. The layer who handled both Betty and Jennifer's estate can be contacted on..... Why don't you call and see if they can put you in touch with the family?
Hi Glyn - Just an update re the service medals of Flight Sergeant John William Houseman. With the additional information you supplied, I was able to contact the solicitor you named and now have had contact with the family. They are truly pleased the medals have turned up and are looking forward to their return to the family. I hope to be there when that happens along with a number of others that helped us get to this point. Can't thank you enough for the information you supplied as I had hit a brick wall with my research. The local paper is going to run a follow up story to mark the occasion.
Based on the names I was provided I had quite a bit of difficulty trying to work out the married names of Betty's daughters. There was no published death notice but I did find the probate notice for Betty which gave me Jennifer's married name. This was a bit of a surprise for a death in 2014 but is now a resource I'll use in the future.
The returned medal tally is now 2854
This search commenced with an email from Victorian Police Sergeant S Cook. His station was in possession of four WWII medals and returned from active service badge awarded to VX142364 Geoffrey Griffin.
It took a bit of time to work out who Geoffrey was until I worked out his middle name was John. This small piece of additional information opened up the full story. Geoffrey died in 1987 and I could find no evidence he married. He died in 1987. His NOK during WWII was his sister Ruby.
Ruby married Leslie Albert Blair and had two sons. One son died in 2009 and the other in 2017. I did manage to find the children of one son and provided all this information to Sergeant Cook. As it turns out, one of Geoffrey's relatives through this family line is a detective in the Victorian Police.
The returned medal tally is now 2849.
This is the third group of medals that recently came from the NSW RSL.
NX177554 John Bede Brown was one of 12 children. He was known by his family as Jack and remained a bachelor. An interesting piece of detail from this service record is that following the Japanese surrender it appears he served in Japan as part of the occupation force.
Through Ancestry, I've found a niece who will accept Jack's medals into the family. Several of Jack's siblings also served and the medals will join those of one of his brothers.
The returned medal tally is now 2844.
This is the second of the groups of medals I recently received from NSW RSL HQ. Another group of four, this time awarded to NX42133 William James Finlay. William was captured in 1942 and became a prisoner of Japan. He was held at Changi prison.
There are a couple of interesting pieces of correspondence in his service record about his medals. Now I can return them to his niece Anne.
Thanks again to Ivan from the NSW RSL.
The returned medal tally is now 2840.
QX2265 Alfred George Chenery saw overseas service in the Middel East and Africia during WWII. He then served in Japan as a sergeant in the British Commonwealth Occupation Force having transferred from the 2nd AIF to the Interim Army. It is sad to read Alfred was discharged on 15 September 1948 due to chronic alcoholism.
Usually a story like this end there with little more information on the public record. That is not the case for Alfred. On 3 February 1954, Alfred was assaulted at a Townsville Hotel and later died. The newspaper report is below at this link.
These three WWII medals are quite uncommon. Not the medals themselves, rather when they were issued. Most WWII medals were awarded in the 1950s and were named by being impressed in a machine. The naming on these medals has been done using a laser. That makes them late issue, probably after 2000.
I found early in the search that the recipient died in 1972. His memorial plaque also gave me the name of all his children which helped in the search.
The medals awarded to VX50465 GNR Eric Maxwell Sleep came to me from the Directorate of Honours and Awards. Prior to that they had been recovered by the Queensland Police in Bundaberg with other stolen items. I now know the medals were issued to GNR Sleep's son and were stolen from a storage locker. They will soon be returned to Eric's son, Trevor.
The returned medal tally is now 2831.
Trying to work out if Robert Edmonston Bruce has any living decedents has proved to be quite difficult. Spoiler alert: the answer is no he didn't. However, to get to that point, I had to go back and forward through the records multiple times to find the right evidence but each time came to a very solid brick wall.
Robert served in WWI as an engineer sapper with the number 14090. His brother 1902 George Hamilton Bruce served in 15th Battalion at Gallipoli. George was missing in action on 8 August 1915. A board of inquiry later pronounced him dead. George is commemorated at the Lone Pine memorial.
Following WWI, Robert became a Public Servant and was living in the Australian Capital Territory suburb of Reid when he enlisted for WWII with the number NX65254.
Robert was married to Laura Mary Forster and it was only checking each electoral roll entry I found they had a daughter; Joyce Bruce. However, there are just to many people by the name Joyce Bruce to work out the exact one I was looking for. I went back to the records and after several more hours found that Joyce Allison Bruce, the daughter of Robert and Laura was born in Victoria in 1920.The last electoral roll entry for Joyce Allison Bruce was in 1949 then she just disappeared from the records. Back to the records research and several hours later found that Joyce married Norris Joseph Merrett in 1950. However, Joyce and Norris did not have any children. I was pretty much back at square one.
Another brother of Robert and George was John Laing Bruce. John's son was Kenneth Robert Bruce. The next generation is Heather D, the great niece of Robert Edmonston Bruce. I've been in contact with Heather and will soon send her these medals.
Two of Robert's WWII medals came to my from the Directorate of Honours and Awards. Prior to that they were in the custody of a public trustee. The medals were still in the original box but I wonder where his WWI medals are?
Thank you to the Rebecca O, the trust manager, and Donna B from the Directorate of Honours and Awards. The returned medal tally is now 2828.
This group of WWII medals awarded to NX138213 Oliver Rowland 'Rowlie' Thomas is quite straight forward. What is slightly different is the named Red Cros Society long service medal which is also included.
The Red Cross medal was awarded to Mrs June Thoms, who was Rowlie's wife. The path the medal have taken to get to me was via the Red Cross to Port Macquarie Legacy to me. I've now been in contact with Rowlie and June's daughter Beverley.
Thanks to Alf S from Port Macquarie Legacy for sending me the medals. The returned medal tally is now 2826.
This story has so many different elements it is a bit difficult to know where to start.
Last week I received a group of five medals covering WWI, Iraq (1919) and WWII from Defence Honours and Awards. The medals had been found in a locked case bought at a car boot sale. The buyer was Beck H who sent the medals to Honours and Awards.
The group consists of five medals; WWI British War medal and Victory Medal, General Service Medal with Clasp Iraq, WWII War Medals and the Australian Service Medal 1939-45. The confusing bit is the naming on the medals. More about that shortly.
What I know now is Archibald Webb was born in Leicestershire in 1898. In 1916 he joined the Leicestershire Regiment before moving to the Labour Corp then the Army Ordnance Corps. Following WWI he stayed in the British Army and was awarded the General Service Medal with clasp Iraq.
Around 1924 he emigrated to Australia and was working a labourer in Perth. Following the outbreak of WWI he enlisted in the Australian Army and was posted to an Ordnance Supply Company. Although he enlisted under his name of Archibald Webb, in 1943 he changed his name to Hastings-Webb, adopting his mother's maiden name. He stayed in the Interim Army following WWII and according to the electoral rolls was still a soldier in 1963.
Archie married Annie in 1943 however, they did not have any children. He died in 1972.
I found Archie on an Ancestry family tree and 12 hours after starting this search I was communicating with a relative of Archie's and have arranged to send his medals back to the UK.
The returned medal tally is 2821.
