This medal group comprising of the Medals of the Order of Australia (General Division), the Defence Force Service Medal with first and second clasp, the National Medal with first clasp and the Australian Defence Medal really sparked my interest. The nasals came to me from Peter of the Wollongong RSL sub branch after they were found outside the City Diggers Club. Finding the large medals or the miniatures separately is not uncommon but together is really interesting.
The medals were awarded to Randal Derek White who served as an officer in the Australian Army from 1951 to 1976. Despite this period of service covering the KoreanWar, the Vietnam War and several other conflicts, Randal did not see operational service.
Randal was in the Royal Australian Army Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and rose to the rank of Brigadier his last appointment was as DGEME. Following retirement from the Army 1976, Randal Worked in the education sector. He was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in the 1991 Queen’s Birthday Honours List:
White OAM, Brig Randal Derek (QB1991)
For service to education, to engineering, and to the community.
Principal, Whyalla Campus, South Australian Institute of Technology 1979-1990. Past President, Whyalla Rotary Club. Member, Whyalla Industrial Development Executive. Co-founder, Whyalla Education City Association. Member, Whyalla Hospital Board and the TAFE College Board. Joined the Australian Army as a Lieutenant in 1951; retired as Brigadier and Director-General of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering 1975.
It took a bit to make a link to the current generation of the White family but I’ve recently been in touch with Randal’s grand daughter. I’ll send her these medals on the near future.
Thanks Peter for sending me the medals. Also thanks to my mate Mike who is the font of knowledge of all things RAEME.
The returned medal tally is now 2794.
I’ve tried to photograph the naming on each medal as best as possible. There are four completely different styles of naming.
No comments:
Post a Comment