John Bede Brown

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.

Changi POW

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.  

Edward Doodson

Over the years I've received large collections of medals from the NSW RSL accompanied by a request to do my best to find the family of the veteran. In the majority of cases I've been successful and it is a real pleasure to do this for NSW RSL. Most recently, Ivan from RSL HQ sent me five WWII groups which came from a RSL sub-branch which is closing down.  

This is the story, albeit short, of the first of those five groups being returned.

The soldier was NX877844 Edward Albert Doodson. My first step on the research path was Ancestry.com.au and I found Edward on a family tree. I sent a message to the tree owner and moved onto the next search. It didn't take long until I heard back from tree owner Brooke who confirmed I had the correct family. That positive response means I don't have too much detail to provide about Edward other than his service record which includes his photo on enlistment.

The returned medal tally is now 2837.