Boer War and WWI medal group

When I opened the parcel containing this medal group I was quite excited as well as a little confused. The excitement stemmed from receiving a Boer War/WWI medal combination which usually means an interesting story. The confusion came from the unit on the Queen's South Africa Medal.
It was easy to find 3435 Richard Alexander McDonald in the National Archives but the Boer War unit was a bit harder to track down. Kitchener's FS, as impressed on the medal, is Kitchener's Fighting Scouts. I found the unit nominal roll (picture below) to confirm Richard's enlistment.
Richard was born in Ireland and at some point between the 1901 and 1914 he emigrated to Australia and settled in WA suburb of Bassenden. His service records shows that he went AWOL on a couple of occasions and was wounded by a machine gun bullet. Of interest his rank is 2nd Corporal which I've not seen before. His WWI service was with 6th Field Company, Engineers.
It was rather easy to follow Richard and his family through the electoral rolls. Richard and his wife Ethel lived in Kenny St, Bassendean for their entire lives. Their eldest son Alexander also lived in Kenny St. Richard's other son, Donald, served during WWII and was a POW.
Once the online electoral rolls ceased it was a little difficult to narrow down any of Richard's descendants, however, I found a reference to Ross Alexander McDonald. I made an assumption he was Richard's grandson.
A newspaper article from the 1950's gave me the only clue of any substance. It said that Ross McDonald of Kenny St was a volunteer firefighter. The next mention of this was a 2013 online article about the closure of the historic Bassendean fire station. Ross was pictured in the story so I used this as the basis of the next line of research. Another volunteer in the story had a distinctive name and was listed in the White Pages. A call to this number soon resulted in being able to contact Ross.
I now know the medals were stolen during a burglary at Ross' house. The medals were subsequently found on the side of the road and found their way to the WA RSL who sent them to me.
Thanks to Wendy of the WA RSL for sending me the medals.
The returned medal tally is now 1843.

The keen eyed will note that the BWM is mounted incorrectly. The reverse is showing rather then the Sovereign's head which is the obverse.

Another point of interest with the BWM is that Richard's service number isn't impressed on the medal.

Nominal roll from www.angloboerwar.com

Betty Dow

This search really tested me and it was only in the last hour did it unravel enough for me to connect all the dots.
In January 2012 I received a WWII group of four medals and a plaque awarded to Better Frances Dow. The medals are impressed to B3/227 B. F. Dow. The first thing that threw me was the number which does not appear in the WWII nominal roll. I called on the experts of the British Medals Forum and the answer quickly came back as one attributed to the Red Cross and this was a typical number for a philanthropic organisation. So the first door opened I found out all about Betty. She worked with the Red Cross in Batavia and later in Europe. I've found a photo of Betty which I've attached below.
Using the electoral rolls I followed Betty until 1985 when she died. Betty didn't marry. Her brother Stewart did marry but he had no children. Stewart served during WWII and I now know the wider family have strong military links. Then the trail went cold. Several attempts to revisit the search proved fruitless until tonight when I thought I should go back several generations.
I started with Betty's father, Donald, who was a Presbyterian minister. Donald was appointed as an Army chaplain late in WWI but his service record gives little away that I found useful. I couldn't establish the names of any siblings for Donald so I turned to Betty's mother, Winifred Mona Dow. It took some time to work out her maiden name but once I had it the flood gates opened.
Winifred was the daughter of another Presbyterian minister and was one of seven children. A search using the surname Reid gave me all the names of her sibling which included Stanley Spencer Reid.
Stanley was also a minister but probably more famous for his talents as an VFL footballer. He played for Fitzroy in the first VFL grand final. In 1899 Stanley volunteered to be a chaplain for the Australian contingents who fought in the Boer War. This was unsuccessful so he enlisted as a trooper with the Western Australian Mounted Infantry. While in South Africa Stanley wrote a letter that was critical of a more senior soldier and Stanley was arrested. This was soldier was also connected with the Beaker Morrant scandal. Stanley was detained and returned to Australia. The matter was not pursued and Stanley was commissioned and returned to South Africa. He was in the same unit as his brother Surgeon -Captain Francis Bentley Reid. I take it that Betty Francis and Stewart Stanley were named for these two relatives.
Stanley was wounded on two occasions and subsequently died of his wounds in June 1902. He and  Francis were both mentioned in despatches.
This wikipedia link has the full story about Stanley and several photos of him as well.
Another brother who served was Lieutenant John Cecil Drury Reid who was awarded the Military Cross. John was a member of a Tunnelling Company and died of wounds in June 1917.
Another brother was William Bremner Reid who was also a doctor and it is his daughter, Betty's cousin, who I have found and will return the medals to.
The returned medal tally is now 1267.

Betty in Batavia with the Red Cross

Mildred Evaline Vaughan

This is a fascinating story which I'll let Bill tell. 

'The Vaughan story began when I was approached by the President of a Melbourne RSL Sub-Branch. The Club had been given a collection of medals, the result of a collector deciding to pursue another hobby. The President, while willing to accept the medals, felt that there should an examination into how the medals came to be sold in the first, and so the story began.

Invariably when we ring a next of kin of the recipient of the medals we hold, and after having explained who and what we are doing, we are most often met with the comments "Dad's medals. They have been missing for years. Where did you find them?"

It is not unusual that as we pass through our research, we swing backwards and forwards, where we sometimes think we have taken not the expected two steps back, but rather we are back again at the beginning of our search. Often trying to work out how we got it wrong by proceeding down one path, when you probably should have ignored it altogether.

But never, until I started the search for the family of VF510178 Mildred Evaline Vaughan had I been met when calling with the words "What medals? Mum didn't have medals. Dad yes, but Mum no". Then the second question; "Where did you get them? The answer to that question is usually short, but the answer to; "How did you find me?" is the one that takes up the time.

So then came the first part of the answer explanation that Mildred had served during WW2 in the Army, and as such she was eligible for the War Medal and the Australian Service Medal 1939-1945.

 The second part was a bit more complicated. Several years ago a medal collector tiring of collecting medals and having lost the enthusiasm for his hobby faced with the problems associated with selling his collection, gave them to a Melbourne RSL. An incoming President asked me if it would be possible to do an audit of the medals, in particular their background and where had they come from.

Perhaps the most pleasing part of the search was for it to end with a successful conclusion. A search that was began in March 2010 was completed this week when Mildred's medals were presented to her daughter Jane.

Mildred's family had a tradition of Military Service, her father Lieutenant Percy William Vaughan, served with the 1st Australian Service Squadron in South Africa during the Boer War from 1900 to 1901. During WW1 he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in charge of the defence of the Newcastle Port.

Source:  http://cas.awm.gov.au/item/A05152

Lieutenant Percy William Vaughan 

Originally the Manager of City Bank, Braidwood, NSW, Percy received 5 bars to his Queen's South Africa Medal and was Mentioned in Despatches.

His son Kenneth Montague Vaughan served as a Captain during WW2.

His other daughter, Phyllis, married a Royal Naval Commander.

So it was in this tradition that Mildred joined the Army during WW2.

As for the search itself, well it took the assistance of the team at the Australian Surname Group and many many hours in the State library of Victoria, carefully trolling over old newspapers and electoral rolls. I followed the progress from Melbourne to Perth where Mildred met and married William Hudson in 1946. Mildred returned to Melbourne to live after the death of her husband. 

But the question does remain where have the medals been all this time? And who had them court mounted. As I explained to Jane, I don't know and I guess we probably never will, but what is more important is that the medals are home with Mildred's family.'

The returned medal tally is now 1202.

Queen's South Africa Medal and British War Medal

This pair of medals is quite an unusual combination. The first one is the Queen's South Africa (QSA) Medal awarded for service during the Boer War. The QSA covered the period 1899 to 1902 and then the King's South Africa Medal was awarded after 1 January 1902 as Edward VII had come to the throne.
The QSA of this pair was awarded to 170 George Hamilton Sydney Maddock. George served with the 4th Contingent of the Queensland Imperial Bushmen. The clasps with the medal are for Transvaal, Orange Free State and Cape Colony. The Australian War Memorial Boer War nominal roll indicates that George was also with the 6th contingent. The QSA is named to the Queensland MR (Mounted Rifles). George's brother Arthur also served with the 7th Battalion of the Australian Commonwealth Horse.
George enlisted to the 11th Australian Light Horse for WWI. This link is to his service record. (To access the service record follow the steps in this tutorial.) He was later allocated to the Imperial Camel Corps. His British War Medal is named to the Camel Corps which makes the pair of medals unusual. The BWM is his only entitlement from WWI and this is confirmed in a series of letters in his service record.
George was from a rather large family, he married and had one son. All of his siblings who survived past childhood also married and had children but the family has been difficult to find. George and his brother Arthur married the Queale sisters but all of the close subsequent generations have died out. George's son and Arthur's three sons all served during WWII with one being a POW. However, none had children of their own.
I have found a relative who has considerable family history material for the Maddock family and I'll return the medal to her. Thanks to Rod S who forwarded the medals to me and to Catherine who wanted the medals returned in the first place.
The returned medal tally is now 1118.
The QSA:

 The BWM: