I recently received a message from Neil L a retired Royal Australian Navy veteran who had several medals he was keen to have returned to families. Neil sent me the medals and this is the first return.
This 1939-45 Star was awarded to VX139799 John William Trotter. My research led me to an Ancestry family tree and within 12 hours of sending a message to the tree owner I was speaking to John's nephew, Geoff. Since that discussion, Geoff has kindly sent me two photos. The first is of John, known as Jackie, as a boy and the second is a description of Jackie's war service which has far more detail than I could distill from his service record.
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After the war, Jackie married Thelma and they settled in South Australia. Jackie died on 21 Dec 67.
Geoff has maintained a connection with Jackie's unit association and he will have Jackie's medal in time for this year's Anzac Day parade.
The returned medal tally is now 2932.
