R S Hayes, RAN

This search started after I was contacted by Natasha who had found two medals amongst her husband's grandfather's possessions and was seeking to have them returned to the veteran's family.

The medals were awarded to two different servicemen and this story is about the Defence Medal awarded to PM3737 Ronald Sydney Hayes. Once I saw the service number I knew Ronald served in the Royal Australian Navy and his home port was the Port of Melbourne as indicated by the letters PM.  

The RAN service record of this period are usually only two pages but the basics are all recorded including the next of know details. Following his discharge, Ronald returned to Melbourne and worked as a blacksmith's striker. There is no evidence that Ronald married or had children. 

I found Ronald on an Ancestry tree which had not been accessed for over a year but did have the tree owner's name viewable. I found the same name on social media so took a punt and sent off a message. Sure enough I found the correct family. This is Lisa who confirmed she is Ronald's great niece.

An additional piece of information provided by Natasha is that the house where the medals were found was often a halfway house for other veterans so this may explain how they got there.

The retuned medal tally is now 3044.

Father and son medals

This search started after I received a message from Benjamin G who told me, 'years back my parents where given a box containing war medals'. Benjamin also provided the photos I've included below which included the service details of two soldiers with the same surname.

Firstly, the 1914-15 Star was awarded to SS-1880 PTE Walter Henry Watson who served in the British Army during WWI. Secondly, the Africa Star was awarded to QX21531 Noel Frank Watson. Noel was Walter's son.

Noel's service record contains some interesting correspondence about his medals. 

In 2016, Noel's grand daughter wrote to Defence claiming the 1939-45 Star for Noel. This is because the regulations about the awarding of this medal to those who received the Africa Star changed in the mid 1990s. The following three pictures are the initial letter, a picture of Noel's group at the time and the page from Noel's service record where he elected to receive the Africa Star.

What has confused me a little bit is the existence of the Africa Star in Noel's group and the one pictured by Benjamin. Without a close inspection of the star in the picture above it is a bit hard to theorise what has occurred. 

Noel's granddaughter has kindly given me permission to include this picture of Noel during his overseas service. She has also provided a copy of a newspaper article published in recent years and tells the story of Noel and his brother Robert who meet up during the war having not seen each other for 14 years.

I've connected Benjamin and Noel's grand daughter and the medals will be returned in the near future.

The returned medal tally is now 3045.

WWI KIA - George Phillips

This British War Medal arrived in the post one day with no information about who sent it. The medal was awarded to 2176 PTE George Henry Phillips of the Hampshire Regiment who was a little difficult to pin down as he had three numbers during his WWI service; 2176, 7/2176 and 305852.

Once I had this last number, 305852, all became a bit clearer. George was killed in action on 21 January 1916 in Mesopotamian, now Iraq, He is memorialised at the Basra Memorial. 

What I haven't been able to find out is the exact circumstances of George's death while serving with the Hampshire Regiment. However, this link is to a history of the regiment's campaign in Mesopotamia. Specifically, this is what is recorded as having occurred on the date George was killed:

On 21 January the Relief Force attacked at El-Hanna in atrocious conditions. Thick mud made the movement of troops and equipment difficult and the Turks had had time to improve their defences which were a mile in depth. Among the attacking British force were 345 men of the 1/4th Hampshires who were particularly eager for success given that many of their comrades were trapped inside Kut.

The attack was a disaster. After shelling the Turkish positions, the British and Indian troops advanced in heavy rain over flat ground which afforded neither cover nor surprise. The 9th Brigade, which four 1/4th Hampshires had managed to infiltrate, attempted reinforce a group of around 60 men who had got within 50 yards of the Turkish trenches. However, they were quickly driven back.

On a day of heavy casualties, the Hampshires suffered particularly badly. They went into battle with 16 officers and 339 other ranks and came out with three and 64 respectively.

George was 24 years old when he died. He had two brothers and three sisters. I looked at all these siblings and all but one remained in England where they died. One brother, William, emigrated to New Zealand where he died in 1965. I've been unable to find any link as to how this medal ended up in Australia.  

I've been in touch with a descendant of George's sister Alice who I will send the medal to in the near future.

The returned medal tally is now 3043.