This is the last of the medals from the recent package sent to me by the Directorate of Honours and Awards. Several of the other groups from this source were related to each other in a certain way, they were brothers or brothers in law. Even though all these medals were in the same box, the connection with this return but it took a bit longer to work out.
The first medal I looked at was the WWII War Medal awarded to 26867 Motor Mechanic Alan David Morgan, RAN. Alan's next of kin was his wife Kathleen Hilda (nee Chapman). The married in 1935 and had a daughter, Helen. Following being demobilised in May 1946, he became ill and died on 9 Feb 47 and is listed on the AWM roll of honour. Alan and Kathleen had a daughter, Helen Divina Morgan. All these details are on his headstone, even though it is a bit hard to read.
The next part of the puzzle was the medals awarded to
VX69456 SGT George Franklin Palmer.
George's next of kin was his wife Ivy. Ivy died in 1962 and George in 1986. This is Geroge's headstone, which is also difficult to read.
When I read 'stepfather of Helen' on George's headstone, I realised I had the link. George married Kathleen in 1963.
Kathleen, George and Helen lived in Warrnambool, SA. After Helen married Ian Saxby Reardon in 1958, their life took a turn and they headed to PNG with their young children. I found several stories about their life in PNG and the their long association with the other Australians involved in the PNG community.
Helen died in 2011 and Ian in 2020. The next challenge was trying to track down either Helen and Ian's two children. The lawyer who administered Ian's estate kindly passed my details to their son Mark who I spoke to today.
Thank you once again to Donna at Honours and Awards. The returned medal tally is now 2926.
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