WW2 RAAF medals

59477 Lawrence Gordon O'Brien served with the RAAF during WWII. His service record isn't on line so other than the listing that his last posting was a repair and servicing unit I couldn't find any further information about what he did. Lawrence and his sons were easy to track through the electoral rolls. That was until 1980.
I knew the first and middle name of Lawrence's grand daughter but not her married name. I found a 1980 electoral roll entry with a person with the same names at an address close to where Lawrence's son lived. Using that initial and surname combination I had a look at the white pages. I found a candidate but the address was different. This morning I took another punt which aid off and was soon speaking to Lawrence's grand daughter. I'll send her the medals in the near future
Thanks to Graham Docksey from the Albury RSL who sent me the medals.
The returned medal tally is now 1533.

James Goodwin

If only all searches were this easy.
Late last week I received the WWII War Medal awarded to 41143 FSGT James Lee Goodwin from my friend Sandra. Luckily, James' 97 page RAAF service record is available on line. While there were some clues I could use, I also found James on a family tree on Ancestry.com.au. I sent off a message to the tree owner and shortly after received a reply. To my very pleasant surprise Elizabeth was able to connect me with James' daughter, Pat. Over night I had an email from Pat and I can now return the medal.
Thank you very much to both Sandra and Elizabeth. The returned medal tally is now1497.

 James and Pat (reproduced with kind permission from Elizabeth)

Douglas Thomson

This is a very short post, a little like the amount of research that when in to it.
Last week I received the WWII War Medal awarded to 254982 Douglas Yule Thomson from Garry J. As soon as I saw the hand engraved naming I know it was a RAAF issue.
Yesterday I got down to doing some research and within seconds of starting I had, via Ancestry.com.au, a lead on Donald's family. Within a minute I had sent a message to the tree owner and today I received a response from Donald's son David. I'll arrange to send him the medal in the near future.
Thanks go to Garry. The returned medal tally is now 1427.
The photo shows hand engraving which is typical for RAAF WWII medals.

Albert Carrell

I don't mind saying that my friend Sandra really tested my research skills when she sent me two WWII medals awarded to Albert Edward Holton Carrell. Albert served in the RAAF.

Using the electoral rolls and birth, deaths and marriage records available on line I worked out that Albert married in the 1920s but was divorced by the 1930s and didn't have any children. He lived out his life with his two spinster sisters. Sadly, that line of the Carrell family is extinct. So I had to go back to Albert's parents and grand parents.

The only firm piece of evidence I had was the quite unusual 'Holton' name. Using the British census records I found Frances Ann Holton was born in Westerton, Sussex in 1834. She married Elias Carrell. Their son was William Thomas Carrell who married Elizabeth Hoare. They had three children, Ellen Frances, Elizabeth and Albert. I also looked at the Hoare family but they are extinct as well.

This led me back further to Frances Ann Holton and that is when I came across an Ancestry family tree. I contacted the tree owner who is the great great grand daughter of Frances making Albert her great uncle.

The returned medal tally is now 1279.

Alan Arthur

142165 Alan Raymond Arthur served in the Royal Australian Air Force for a period of almost three years. After initially researching a man with exactly the same name from the same small town in Victoria I realised I was going down the wrong path. These two gents were not related but once I started looking at the correct veteran in the records the search was quite easy.
I have just spoken to Mr Arthur's wife who tells me that Mr Arthur, now aged 92, is alive and well. I'll send Mr Arthur his medal in the very near future. Thanks to Richard D who sent me the medal.
The returned medal tally is now 1189.

Ronald Brookman

Ronald Charles Brookman was from Melbourne and in 1941, at age 23, he enlisted in the 5th Battalion of the Victorian Scottish Regiment as V55082 PTE Brookman. However, later in 1941 he transferred to the RAAF and served as 410114 Flight Sergeant Brookman.
Ron was a member of 463 Squadron of Bomber Command and was a navigator on Lancaster aircraft. On 26 September 1944 while on a bombing mission over France, Ron's plane came down. This is the AWM record of the flight. Ron and the rest of the crew are buried at Wissant Communal Cemetery near Pas De Calais. This link shows the panel at the AWM where Ron is listed.
Ron's family placed several notices in the news paper after his death and this article also appeared.

Source: The Argus (Melbourne, Vic), Saturday 19 January 1946, page 9 

Ron's WWII War Medal came to me from the NSW RSL. It had originally been found around Tea Gardens. Using electoral rolls I established that Ron's brother Harold lived in that area for several years and died in Port Macquarie in 2009. Harold also served during WWII. Harold and Ron had two sisters, Gwen and Edna. It didn't take long to follow both Gwen and Edna through the electoral rolls up until 1980. Edna was married to another WWII veteran, Donald Miller, who was awarded a Mention in Dispatches. This is the AWM document about the award.
Following a hunch I had a look in the White Pages in the general area I knew that Edna was living in 1980 and to my surprise I found her listed at the same address. So 30 minutes after the medal arriving in today's post I was talking to Ron's sister.
When looking through the memorial notices for Ron one of the last I came across was from Ron's fiancée, Clare. After Ron was killed, Edna stayed in touch with Clare for many years. Clare subsequently married and had four children.
The returned medal tally is now 1188.

Thomas Hardwick

This Australian Service Medal 1939-45 was awarded to 29616 Thomas George Hardwick who served with the RAAF. The medal was originally set to me by the WA RSL and thanks to Nicolle who located Hardwick's daughter.
The medal returned tally is 1051.