Web site review - The British Medals Forum

The British Medals Forum has been mentioned many times in posts on this blog and the blog roll contains a link to the site. It is also the site others are most referred to if they are interested in expanding there knowledge, interested in medals awarded to Commonwealth countries or posting requests about stolen medals. Having endorsed the British Medals Forum for many years it is now timely to review the site so that others might consider joining.

The British Medals Forum is commonly referred to as the BMF by members. It is a tightly run forum that is focused on medals, honours and awards that are issued by Commonwealth countries. It is the peak research forum on this subject on the web. 

The BMF uses the phpBB forum package as its operating format. This package is easy to use and navigate around. The BMF use of this format offers the ability to browse by dedicated topic group or pre-selected groupings, for example ‘New Posts’ which is on a 24 hour refresh cycle. The look of the site is utilitarian but this is more to do with the phpBB format than the BMF content. One criticism expressed by members is that the search function often does not deliver expected results. Once again, this can be attributed to the phpBB format and the search operation that is inherent in this package.

It is obvious that the site has a very niche focus on medals. It is a free site which only requires an interested member to sign up to access it. There is no advertising which is a credit to the site operators so there is very little distraction on the site. There is an annual voluntary sponsorship drive which provides the opportunity for members to contribute financially to the running costs of the site and further push away the need for advertising.

The BMF has very clear set of rules which are strictly enforced by the moderators. Topics that stray outside the forum theme are quickly locked and deleted. Topics that have run their course in the discussion about medals are also locked if the conversation strays, however, are left online if the earlier discussions are of benefit to member education. The forum is moderated by a group of very knowledgeable, hand selected enthusiasts. The moderators are spread around the world so that they can bring their intimate knowledge of there own countries medal system to the forum. This also allows for 24 hour moderation and close to instantaneous action if the site is hit by spam or disagreement occurs.

The combination of clear rules and decisive moderation allows the BMF to stay completely focused on its primary objective which is the discussion and knowledge sharing of issues related to Commonwealth medals. This ensures relevance that pertains to the topic. As it is a forum, the different members have different writing skills and provide different levels of contribution. The forum has close to 3000 member, some of whom contributed rarely, if at all, and others who are very active. An average day will see over 250 posts being made.

As the site name suggests this one is based in the UK. This is a minor disadvantage to international users. The ‘New Posts’ refresh time means that international posts often fall outside the reading list for the majority of members when they are most likely to access the forum. To ensure maximum exposure an international member needs to time contributions for shortly after the refresh time. This can be inconvenient and run the risk of gaps in the discussion given time differences. A second minor disadvantage is the name. When referring others to this BMF, the question is often asked why join since it is the British Medal Forum not the Australian Medal Forum. However, once a new member visits they soon see that other Commonwealth countries are well represented and the title is irrelevant. These are two very minor criticisms as it is hard find much at fault with the BMF.

The strength of the BMF is the friendliness of the members and their willingness to share the immeasurable knowledge that they have. New members are made to feel part of the group and questions are answered with speed and politeness. If not, the moderators are quick to act. This adds to the quality of the posts and the research that is shared by members. It must be pointed out that the subject of medals is the start point of many discussions which often lead to previously unknown information about a soldier, his unit, his home town, his family or any number of side topics. As long as there is a link back to the original medal discussion the topics are free ranging.  

The British Medals Forum is a no frills website. However, the quality and depth of the research on the BMF belies this no frills approach. The utilitarian aspect ensures no annoying advertising or spam which adds to the enjoyment of members who are not distracted and can immerse in their hobby.

For anyone with even a passing interest in medals awarded to Commonwealth countries this is a highly recommended website.

Roy Morgan update

Even though I only posted about Roy Morgan yesterday I thought this was a good enough reason to write an update. This afternoon Roy's family posted the following comment:

Hello Glyn,
I would like to sincerely thank you for you diligent effort in locating my mother to return my dad's stolen medal. Fortunately my nephew had one of dad's medals mounted with a photo of dad soon after his passing now we have all of his medals once more. We as Roy's family are so grateful for their return.

Thank you again Roy's family 

This is fantastic news, Roy's medals will be reunited following this return.

PS can I please ask Roy's daughter to email me at llanwarne80 at hotmail dot com - Thank you.

Roy Morgan

In recent posts I have spoken about how wonderful it has been to assist the Victorian Police Force on several occasions. This time I have the pleasure of helping out the Western Australian Police Force.
Last week I received an email from Peter W of the Perth Police Station. He had a WWII War Medal and a WWII 60th anniversary commemorative coin  and requested that I have a search for the family.
The medal, awarded to WX41637 Roy Frederick William Morgan, arrived in today's post. This afternoon I had a brief look at Roy's entries in the electoral rolls. This brief look turned in to the whole story unravelling at the rapid rate. I quickly established Roy died in 2002 and that his wife's name was Elsie. A check of the White Pages provided a phone number of a person with the same initials living around the corner from the address listed in the 1980 electoral roll. Always keen to take a punt on leads like this I rang the number and within 5 minutes of deciding to have a brief look at Roy's trail I was speaking to Elsie (sorry Bill).
Elsie tells me that she had been burgled in the past and lost many personal items and money. She wasn't worried about the money but she and her daughters were very upset at the loss of Roy's medals. Now one can be retuned.
The returned medal tally is now 1252.

Douglas McGuire - a man of many numbers

This search really had me stumped for a while. Firstly, to correctly identify who I was looking for and then to locate the family.
I was contacted last week by Jim T in WA and he provided the naming on a medal as WP37316 D.G. McGuire. This threw me a bit as the service number didn't give me a hit in the WWII nominal roll. I know there are some different letter and number combinations beyond the usual state/militia/2nd AIF/service arrangements but this was really strange.
The only D.G. McGuire who came close to fitting the bill was Douglas George McGuire. The nominal roll entry shows two numbers; 5400 and WX30146. The 5400 number immediately suggested a post WW2 number issued after the Australian Regular Army was formed in September 1947. So I was looking for a soldier who continued to serve but I needed to confirm the link to the name on the medal.
I followed Douglas to his death in 2009 and instantly hit another hurdle. His name was spelt differently - this time MacGuire. So it was back to the start and it was then I confirmed it was the same person. I found records showing that Douglas George MacGuire was born on the same date and in the same location as the Douglas George McGuire on the nominal roll. There must have been a period where Douglas had another number altogether and this is the one on the medal.
Following WWII, Douglas and his wife were posted several times to Ammunition Depots in different states. They spent some time in Albury, NSW and then at Northam in WA. Douglas took discharge in the mid 1960s and they settled in WA. However, not long after this I lost all track of Douglas and his wife, Zelma, until the details I found out about his death. So I turned to his wife.
I found a 1952 death notice for a lady who died in Rockingham, WA which mentioned her grand daughter, Zelma and her fiancée Doug McGuire of Northam. Bingo. Other death notices game me the names of Zelma's siblings. After a couple of false starts I focused on one sister who had an unusual initial-surname combination. After checking the details in the electoral rolls I looked up the name in the White Pages and sure enough there was the same initial-surname combination listed. I took another punt and was soon talking to Zelma's sister.
From her I learned that Zelma and Douglas divorced and she had remarried. The best news was that Zelma is still alive but now goes by the name Thelma. I don't think I would ever have worked that out using the electoral rolls. I've since spoke to Thelma and I'll send her the medal soon, she is then going to pass it to her and Douglas' daughters.
Thanks Jim.
The retuned medal tally is now 1251.

William Moss

7903 Sapper William Henry Moss was almost 35 years old when he enlisted on 29 June 1917. William was allocated to the Tunnelling Company reinforcements. After training he departed Melbourne late in 1917 and arrived in France on 24 January 1918. His service record suggests that one month later he was in England where he remained until June 1918 and was returned to Australia. The service record gives no indication of the reason for this early return. AIF tunnellers were featured in the film Beneath Hill 60.
William's medal entitlement is the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. He died on 1 May 1935. Thank you to Mrs Marshall who sent me the medal and Anne H who did the research which provided the key that unlocked what I had already put together.
The retuned medal tally is now 1250.

Service records tutorial post update

Recently, the National Archives of Australia have updated their website. I have now updated my service record search tutorial to reflect this very minor change.

George Robinson

George Audley Robinson's service record makes interesting reading. He initially enlisted in 4th Bn AIF on 17 August 1914. His service record has a 2nd attestation paper for enlistment in 2nd Bn AIF on 31 August 1915. From the early pages of the record it is clear that George left Australia in October 1914 but was returned to Australia in May 1915 because he had a venereal disease. When he landed back in Australia he deserted before presenting himself to the authorities. It is not until page 22 of the service record that the story becomes clear. The dates of his return and then re-attestation are given and the authority this approved the re-enlistment.
George finally joined his battalion in France in July 1916. He spent some time in hospital over the next couple of years and then in September 1918 he received a gunshot wound which resulted in evacuation to England. George finally retuned to Australia early in 1919.
George's full medal entitlement is the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. It is the British War Medal that I'll soon be returning to George's grand daughter. The medal is named with George's original regimental number - 227, not his second number - 4570.
I received this medal yesterday afternoon from Roger A who was very keen for it to be returned to the family. Roger is a Canberra local so he dropped it off. A few hours of scratching around led me to Janette (George's grand daughter) who has told me the medals have been missing for many years.
The returned medal tally is now 1249.

Hubert Wallace

N109749 Hubert Hope Wallace was a member of the militia during WWII rather than the 2nd AIF. I suspect that this was due to Hubert's age. For his serivce he would have been awarded the War Medal and the Australian Service Medal 1939-45. It is the War Medal that I'll soon be returning.
This medal we sent to me by my friend Sandra. Within two minutes of opening the parcel I located Hubert on an Ancestry family tree. 10 minutes later I was in contact with Hubert's grand daughter.
The returned medal tally is now 1248.

Theodore Keegan

I received the WWII War Medal and Australian Service Medal awarded to QX53670 Theodore Joseph Keegan 1939-45 from Darrel H of the Boulder RSL (WA). This was a little confusing as all the records I could find indicated that Theodore lived in Queensland. I lost track of him in 1963 when he disappeared off the records I could access.
John D who was so successful with the Sergent search also resolved this search and was able to provide me with the name of Theodore's son. I rang Mr Keegan today and confirmed we had the right family and sure enough John's information was spot on. I also learnt that Theodore lived in WA for a period which explains how his medals got there.
The returned medal tally is now 1247.

Norman Price

The WWI service of 4565 Norman Robert Price seems to be fairly typical based on his service record. He was hospitalised on several occasions, went AWOL on several occasions and spent time in France and England. As per usual the service record doesn't give much indication about where Norman fought but as a member of the 2nd Battalion, AIF, Norman would have been involved in action around Ypers.
What I find interesting from his service record is the correspondence from the mid 1940s where Norman is requestion replacement medals and record of service which were lost. The medal I have is the original Victory Medal that Norman was awarded not a duplicate he would have received much later.
I lost track of Norman around 1946 so I then had to start tracking other family members which included Percy Price who was a POW during WWII. I ran out of leads when the online electoral rolls stop at 1980 so as a last ditch effort I placed a request in the Daily Telegraph In Search column and I have now been contacted by the Price family. Normans Victory Medal will soon me returned to Percy's son.
This medal is from the NSW RSL box and the returned medal tally is now 1245.

Welcome home certificate

This is another non medal return but an important piece of a families history none the less.
During WWI many communities established patriotic funds so that local soldiers could receive presentation items like fobs and comfort packages with clothing and food items. The practice wasn't as widespread and as well organised during WWII but some communities did make an effort to acknowledge the contirbution for their soldiers.
This certificate was presented to Leonard Keith Fountain by the District of Palmer. I have recently been in touch with a relative of Len and will post her the certificate in the near future.
My friend Sandra came across this and sent it to me along with the dog tags issued to Hugh MacGlashan.

Another case resolved for the Victoian Police

I was recently contacted by a Detective in Warrnambool, Victoria who had a group of five contemporary Australian medals that were found locally. The Detective wasn't sure if they were the proceeds of a crime or not so he held on to the medals while I looked for the veteran.
This morning I was able to provide the Warrnambool Detectives with the phone number of a young soldier so that his medals can be returned.
The returned medal tally is now 1244.

Evelyn Spradbery

This is another return that has taken many years of research to bring to a conclusion
I received the Imperial Service Medal awarded to Evelyn Bessie Spradbery in 2006 from Jackie E at Australia Post. A little bit of searching gave us the basics; Evelyn's husband name, the London Gazette entry for the award and her date of death in 1991. It took a little more effort to determine that Evelyn and her husband had a daughter by the name of Gwendoline J Spradbery. That led us down one path of enquiry. After much effort we established that Gwendoline married Brian A Spence. Then the trail went cold.
During my research I even wrote a letter to the local paper and council where Evelyn lived. I did not receive a response from either organisation and I doubt very much that the letter was published. I even went as far as to post a story on this blog in 2011 in the hope that someone might do a search of Evelyn's name and come across my entry.
Several of our researchers have also spent considerable effort looking for Gwendoline, particularly Morris C. All up many hours of research have put together some very thin leads. Last week I decided to revisit this case. I stumbled across an online phone book entry for Gwendoline and Brian living in Kendal, UK. The website didn't provide an address or phone number so I had to think of a different method of attack. I then turned to Brian's name. This led me to come across a 2011 council planning committee document that had recently been posted on line. The council in question was the very one I had written to in 2006.
What this document gave me was the subject of the planning application which in turn led me to other documents that opened up more clues. I learnt that Mrs G Spence was the local coordinator of blue badges for handicapped parking. A letter to the editor of the local paper about this subject gave me the best led yet. Gwendoline goes by the name Gussie. Oh, the paper that Gussie's letter was in was the same one I had also written to in 2006.
Once I had Gussie's name I found another obscure reference to her which included a mobile phone number from 2005. On a hunch I rang that number tonight and within seconds was talking to Gussie. We had a wonderful conversation and I am so pleased that all this effort by countless people has come to such a successful conclusion.
The returned medal tally is now 1239.

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Stewart Sergent

This has been one of those searches that has taken several researches many hundred of hours to finally come to a successful conclusion.
I first received the WWII medals awarded to QX15327 Stewart Raymond Sergent in March 2005. They were sent to me by the Emu Park RSL sub-branch in Queensland. Stewart proved to be very elusive to locate as he had two marriages and children from both of them. His children were all female so we had the added complication of trying to find there married names, if indeed they had married.
After some very detailed research, John D finally managed to crack the code and follow the family path to Stewart's daughter, Dulcie. I am very grateful to John for his persistence with this one. Finally success after almost eight years.
I do have a tinge of disappointment. From September 2006 until July 2008 when I was last posted to Townsville, I worked about 1 km from Dulcie's house.
The returned medal tally is now 1238

Research support to the Police

On occasion we have to be a little judicious with the information that we publish on this blog. There are any number of reason for this. For example a family might provide me information that is sensitive and doesn't add anything to the story.
Bill and I also provide advise to several state police forces when they recover medals. In certain circumstances the details about the source of the medals is not provided to us due to pending legal action or identifiable privacy requirements. Notwithstanding, Bill and I will conduct what research we can and pass that information to the respective police officer.
We have recently received feed back that one of these searches has resulted in the return of a group of WWI medals to the family. The returned medal tally is now 1232.

Marcus Towler

This return is of a WWI dog tag. Unlike the dog tags of today which are made of metal, the WWI version were made of a fibreboard materiel similar to cardboard. As a result they deteriorated very quickly, especially when wet.
This particular dog tag was issued to Captain Towler of the Cyclist Battalion. Not much information to go on. By searching the UK Medal Index Cards (MIC) there was only one person who fit the bill. The MIC are sometimes disappointing due to the lack of information on them but in this case it proved to be a gold mine. From the MIC I found Towler's full name was Marcus Albert and he was later promoted to the rank of Major. His full medal entitlement was the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. The MIC even notes that he had to apply for his 1914-15 Star and confirmation of the award. To my even greater surprise I found a second MIC stating that Marcus was Mentioned in Despatches.
Based on the information from the MIC it didn't take me long to locate Marcus on the Australian electoral rolls. By following him over many years I also was able to establish the names of his children.
What confused me a little was that Marcus was on the 1914 electoral roll but enlisted in the British Army in 1915. It wasn't unheard of for men who were born in England to return there after emigrating to enlist. However, the 1914 entry did make me question my research logic. I have since spoken to Marcus' family and I know more of his story.
Marcus emigrated to Australia around 1911 and settled in Melbourne. He spent a short amount of time in WA ring barking trees for land clearing but succumbed to barcoo rot. At the outbreak of WWI Marcus return to England and was commissioned in to the Army Cycle Corps. After WWI Marcus returned to Australia and became a successful business man working for a Japanese company. Every this went well until the outbreak of WWII and Marcus found himself without a job. He was then appointed as a Captain in the 2nd AIF as a recruiting officer. In addition to his WWI medals Marcus would also have been awarded the War Medal and the Australian Service Medal 1939-45.
The dog tag was sent to me by my friend Sandra. All up the search took about 20 minutes and I learnt some new things on the way, a very satisfying result.

Robert Elphinstone

This search was quite confusing as Robert enlisted on three separate occasions for service during WWII. Twice he enlisted in the Army and once in the Merchant Marine. Each enlistment has a bit of information different to the last which took a little time to unravel. Robert gave different birth dates on two occasions and these didn't marry up with other records.
After the war all reference to Robert disappeared except for a 1957 court listing which didn't help much. The only other firm piece of information I had was his mother's first name. It was the mention of this name in another new paper article relating to a court case in 1936 which provided me with her husband's name. However, through these links I was able to contact a relative of Robert's who I will soon post the medal to.
It was very difficult to get a good photo of the naming on Robert's Australian Service Medal. It appears to be laser engraved rather than impressed, similar to the medals issued today. The medal came to me from the NSW RSL and they have had it since 1999. Laser engraving was only introduced shortly prior to this so I'm a little confused as to when this medal would have been issued to Robert.
The returned medal tally is now 1225.

Cornelius Haskell

This is one of those searches which I wished happened more often. This afternoon I had a case referred to my by the WA RSL. The WWII War Medal awarded to F3622 Cornelius Lawrence Haskell (known as Laurie) had been found in a Perth suburban garden. A quick check of the electoral rolls showed that Mr Haskell had lived very close to where the medal was found. The electoral roll also gave me the name of Mr Haskill's son. A quick check of the White Pages provided me with the phone number of Mr Haskill's son and within three minutes of receiving the initial request for help I was talking to a member of the Haskell family (sorry Bill).
A broader check of Mr Haskell's service shows that he was Mentioned in Despatches during his service with the RAN.
Thank you to Sean M who found the medal and wanted to see it back with the family. The returned medal tally is now 1224. 

As can be seen in the photo this medal must have been buried for many years to now be in this condition.

William Wedgood

WX36084 William Henry Wedgwwod was a private with the 102 Australian Casualty Clearing Station. There is little information about this unit available but it was familiar to me. I then remembered that I had returned another set of medals to another member of this unit. This was WFX34622 Ruth Margaret Veitch who was a nurse.
Mr Wedgwood's medals were sent to me by the WA RSL. They are in almost as issued condition. The returned medal tally is now 1223.

Wyndham Baker

When I first received the British War Medal awarded to 3515 Wyndham John Baker I thought that the search would be reasonably easy given his unusual first name. I quickly found the basic information from his service record and his addresses via the electoral rolls. We even got as far as following his great grand son to Perth where he died in 2006. What we couldn't find was a living relative despite Wyndham and his wife Alice having two children who we know married and had children of their own. The whole research team has had a look at this one and today I revisited the collective research and finally tracked down Wyndham's great great grand son.
What we know about Wyndham is that he served in 31st Battalion, however, he put his age at 42 when he enlisted although he was closer to 50. After the war he was a farmer. His son Francis was a police officer and his daughter Winifred married where the family lived near Crow's Nest QLD. It is through Winfired's line that I've contacted Wyndham's great great grand son and I now have the contact details of one of Winifred's sons who I will return the medal to.
Wyndham's medal was found by Janet E who passed to Lloyd B who works for the Department of Defence and he then forwarded the medal to me. Thank you to both these links who are part of returning this medal.
The medal returned tally is now 1220.

Reginald Back post update

I've been provided with a copy of a photo of Reginald's father and added it to the story.

Reginald Back

This search has really tested me as it involved searching through the records of three countries over a period of two years.
The British War Medal awarded to Engineer Sub-Lieutenant Reginald Frederick Back was originally sent to me by the NSW RSL as part of what we have come to know as the NSW box.
The first bit of information I found was via Ancestry on a WWI medal roll confirming that R. F. Back was entitled to the BWM for service in the Royal Navy Reserve but that was it, no names to go with his initials. I then spent a considerable amount of time searching the records in the UK but there was nothing additional. The second piece of information was that a ships officer by the name of R.F. Back sailed from Lyttleton NZ, to Melbourne so it was in to the New Zealand archives for a look. Based on the initials alone there was nothing of substance for me to focus on. On a hunch I looked at the Australian electoral rolls and found Reginald Frederick Back, Master Mariner, living in Sydney from the 1930s to 1969. Unfortunately, there was little else in the Australian records but enough to confirm that he didn't marry or have children. So it was back to New Zealand.
In the New Zealand WWI archives I stumbled across the service record of Gunner Reginald Frederick Back from Lyttleton, NOK Miss Amy Back sister. The service record made reference to Back being discharged from the NZEF to take up a commission in the Royal Naval Reserve and that his medals were issued by the Admiralty. This link is to his service record which is a pdf file requiring download. I had my man
Through the New Zealand records on Ancestry I could piece together the family tree and what emerged was a fascinating story about this family.
Reginald was the son of Algernon Back who was born in Devon UK. Algernon was a mariner and the Chief Officer aboard the 19th century migrant ship the Euterpe. To my surprise the Euterpe survives as the Star of India and this link has a picture of the ship in 1877 and in more recent years. Interestingly the caption of the 1877 photo mentions London St where Reginald lived before he enlisted.
This link is to the news letter of the Maritime Museum of San Diego which includes a picture of Algernon on page 14. The information about the Euterpe led me to the blog of Joan Curry which has details from several of the ships voyages:
Algernon tangles with a dog.
Algernon plays the violin.
Some time around 1880 Algernon left the Euterpe and settled in New Zealand, however, I think that he might have already established his family at the port and continued to sail for a few years after they began living in London St.
Algernon had a daughter and two other sons and I could follow them pretty easily through the New Zealand records. At one point in time all Reginald's siblings and their respective families lived at the same address as part of the family retail business. Amy didn't marry, one brother did marry but didn't have any children. The last brother married and had two daughters. I couldn't find their marriage details but by knowing there first and second names and cross referencing this against the address I already know I was able to establish their married name. One daughter, in turn, had three children and I've now been in touch with one of them. This is Reginald's great nephew.
The Back family connection with Canterbury NZ, extends beyond Algernon and his family settling there. Algernon's brother Frederick was a railway manager who later became responsible for establishing the railway system around Canterbury. These two links are contemporary news paper accounts of a study tour he did in 1885 and on his retirement.
The returned medal tally is now 1219.

Post updated 31 Dec 12
Thanks to the generosity of Joan Curry I have been provided with a copy of the photo of Algernon Back (identified as Beck) which appeared in the Maritime Museum of San Diego Museum news letter I mentioned in the main post.

Charles O'Donnell

I was recently asked to do some research on a medal and the story I uncovered is worth retelling.
The medal in question is a Queen's South Africa Medal with the clasps Transvaal, Orange Free State and Cape Colony.  This medal was awarded for service during the Boer War.

The medal is named to 729 CPL W Oaks Victorian Mounted Rifles. However, it is immediate obvious that the original name has been erased and W. Oaks has been added. The number and unit are untouched. As can be seen in the pictures of the medal the rim is thinner near the W, the font is not the same as the unit name and close inspection shows that the renaming is done by chisel engraving where the rest is impressed. The final tell tale is the remnants of the previous naming to the right of the 'W'.

My mate Daryl is a QSA expert but between the two of us we just couldn't find a person by the name of Oaks who served in an Australian contingent to the Boer War. So we reverted to what was known: the number and the unit. This led me to 729 CPL Charles Edward Somerset O'Donnell. I'm convinced that this is the man who was originally awarded the medal. O'Donnell is also mentioned on the Australians in the Boer War data base and his photo appears as part of a contingent montage.

Source: T Humphrey & Co./Melbourne Leader 16.2.1901.

Usually medals are renamed for a number of reason, sometimes to deceive or to replace a medal in a group where the original has been lost. This got me thinking about why O'Donnell had either sold his medal or lost it. If it was sold it might have been due to financial hardship during the Depression which was a common occurrence.
While putting together the story about the O'Donnell the first piece of information I came across was the 1903 death of his sister. 

Source: The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1956), Monday 30 March 1903, page 1
(Clicking on the articles will produce a larger view)

The death notice confirmed O'Donnell's mother's name and it also gave me his father's name. This is where the story really took off. 
As I looked at the electoral rolls for Edward O'Donnell, his occupation was listed as either Gentleman or Independent Means. At the time this meant that the individual was wealthy and did need to work. How interesting I thought. If the O'Donnell's were a wealthy family what happened so that Charles might have had to sell his medal?
The next article I found concerned a court case where Frances (Charles' mother) was petitioning for Edward to pay for her financial upkeep while they were estranged. The estrangement was attributed to Charles being violent towards his father and his mother always standing up for Charles. 

Source: The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1956), Wednesday 29 August 1906, page 11


Edward had enough of Charles and moved out. The article details that the O'Donnell's owned several houses and that Edward was a retired Detective Sergeant. Edward and Frances must have later reconciled as they appear in the electoral rolls together for some years after this case. 
The information about Edward's profession then opened up more information. Trove is awash with articles about Edward who was one of the leading Victorian detectives from about 1865 through to the early 1900s. Many of the major crimes in Ballarat and Melbourne from that period were investigated and solved by Edward. 
All this previous publicity was inconsequential when compared to what happened on 27  July 1900.

Source: The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1956), Tuesday 31 July 1900, page 5

Many more articles followed this initial one and Edward's condition fluctuated over several months. The story unfolded over some time and it transpires that Edward had been led in to an ambush when he was shot. The story came to a conclusion when a career criminal was arrested in Perth in October 1900 and identified as the man responsible for shooting Edward.

Source: The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1956), Tuesday 16 October 1900, page 5

From what I could gleam from all these articles, Edward received a handsome pension and a substantial reward which allowed him to have Independent Means. However, it appears that the family fortune, as well as a large amount that Frances inherited, was lost over the years and Charles was left nothing.

Joseph Daly

My search for the family of NX65239 Joseph Patrick Daly took me almost as far as this man travelled in his life. When Joseph enlisted for WWII he gave his year of birth as 1902. As it transpired he was born in 1898 but adjusting a date of birth was not uncommon during this period. The only other solid evidence I had for Joseph was that he was born in Ireland and where he was located on enlistment. This was enough to pin him down in 1937 from the electoral rolls.
I haven't been able to verify it exactly but I suspect that Joseph left Ireland for Australia in the late 1920s or early 30s. During WWII Joseph served with HQ 22 Bde and was taken prisoner in Malaya.
After WWII Joseph moved to Far North Queensland and I was able to follow him through a succession of boarding houses until he finally settled in Townsville. The last address I have for him was in Palmer St Townsville which I know very well. It is now a popular cafe and restaurant strip but up until about 15 years ago it was a street best avoided. I remember it from my first posting to Townsville and its close proximity to the Townsville wharf meant it was a rough part of town. Many boarding houses lined Palmer St but most have now been knocked down to make room for hotels or renovated into flash backpacker accommodation.
The trail back to Joseph's family was difficult and I had to make some educated guesses. What is definite is that Joseph did not marry or have any children. However, using the location and the year of his birth I could link him to his mother and her siblings. While I had nothing concrete I narrowed down the family enough to work out the name of one of  Joseph's uncles. This then led me to a family tree on Ancestry. Several of Joseph's uncles and aunts moved to America early in the 20th century and I know now that separate research has turned up information about other members of the family moving to Australia.
I have since been in touch with Sean, the owner of the tree I found on Ancestry, who I calculate to be Joseph's 4th cousin. Sean is located in the USA where many of the Daly family from that generation emigrated to.
Thank you to John J who sent me the medals in the first place. The returned medal tally is now 1218. Unfortunately, the War Medal which Joseph would also have been awarded is missing from the rest of the group.

Hugh MacGlashan

I received the dog tags worn by 120699 Hugh Stewart MacGlashan recently from my friend Sandra Playle who runs Vision Research Services. With such an uncommon name I thought this would be a straight forward search. Hugh was an only child but his father had six siblings. Each one I researched proved to have either not married or had no children. However, the family did seem to be concentrated around Brighton, Victoria. Hugh lived in this area for some years but he also moved around Victoria as a priest. I did track down a few newspaper articles about Hugh from the 1950 including this picture and notice of his engagement. One of Hugh's cousins, Neil MacGlashan also served in WWII and I found that he died in 2011. While I could find Neil's son's name I just couldn't locate an address so then I went off in search of Neil's grand son, Alistair.
I found a person by this name in Chicago USA and he was involved with the USA AFL competition. An educated guess told me I had the right fellow. I have since been in touch with Alistair who is at home in Melbourne on a visit for Christmas so I'll post him the dog tags next week.
The engraving is not very deep which has made taking a reasonable photo difficult.

Thomas Hutchinson

2146A Thomas Hutchinson was initially allocated to 5th Battalion AIF and later moved to 46th Battalion. During his service he was wounded in action twice and went AWOL on two occasions. After discharge Thomas worked as a miner around the Victorian gold fields.
There is very little information about him other than what I could find in the electoral rolls. The next time Thomas appeared in the records was during WWII when he served in a garrison battalion. Thomas did not marry so Bill and I focused our research on his wider family. I have recently been in touch with Jenny, the Great Grand Daughter of Thomas' uncle and I'll soon be sending the medal to her.
For his service in WWI Thomas was awarded the usual trio of the 1914-15 Star, British War Medal and the Victory Medal. For his service during WWII in a garrison battalion he would have been awarded two more medals, the War Medal and the Australian Service Medal 1939-45. Where the rest of Thomas' medals are is anyone's guess.
Thank you to Mike R of Bendigo who sent Thomas' BWM to me. The returned medal tally is now 1214.

Wilfred Parker

In 2007 I received Wilfred John Parker's Memorial Plaque and its accompanying letter from the King.
The only solid piece of information I could find was the details of Wilfred's death at Passchendaele on 31 July 1917 as recorded on the Commonwealth War Graves web site. I located two regimental numbers for Wilfred which is not uncommon but made the search a little more uncertain. Wilfred was a British soldier who served with the Royal Sussex Regiment and the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment.
Yesterday, I revisited the research and came across a family tree on Ancestry. Wilfred was listed with his siblings but the tree owner was not closely related so I started researching his brother Stephen only to discover that Stephen died in Queensland in 1983. This explains how the plaque came to be in Australia. I then had a close look at Stephen's family and found another family tree which is owned by Stephen's grandson. A message to the owner, Bill, was answered almost immediately and confirmed he is Wilfred's great nephew.
I now know that Wilfred first enlisted at aged 15 but when his mother found out he was withdrawn from the army. Wilfred is commemorated at the Menin Gate Memorial and his town memorial at Littlehampton, Sussex. Bill has very kindly provided me some photos of the memorial and of Wilfred.
Thanks to Glenn S who sent me the plaque and letter. The returned medal tally is now 1213.

This is Wilfred's memorial plaque

The naming on the plaque. It appears to have been rubbed a lot, maybe an attempt to remove it.

This is the letter sent to families which accompanied the plaque. It is signed by George V.

A photo of Wilfred believed to be taken during training.

Wilfred in uniform

Littlehampton Memorial showing PTE W.J. Parker

Post update - George Pittman

I have just updated the post on George Pittman.

Lydia Joy Waterfield

This is a fantastic story from Bill:

While I cannot claim the record for the quickest return of a set of medals, and I must admit my envy of Glyn when he posts such a return where, looking at the name, and it is usually an odd one, he has used the Internet coupled with White Pages directory, and has as a result been able to complete a search in less than an hour.  The case of the medals of Lydia Joy Waterfield has to date been a personal best.

The story:

It was the brother of Lorraine Green, (the Secretary of the Upper Yarra RSL) who when he recently set the winning bid on a set of candelabra at a deceased estate auction, started this search. For in the box along with the candelabra came a small cloth bag, in which there were two medals, impressed to 94858 L.J. Waterfield.

He and Lorraine then set out to find Lydia.

After several months with no success they contacted Jude Beshears, of the Victorian Branch of the RSL, who in turn directed them to me. From a quick conversation with Lorraine, it appeared that an extensive search for a Lydia Joy Waterfield in the Upper Yarra Region had proved fruitless.

At this point with the clock ticking (it was 3.17PM approx), I downloaded Lydia’s Nominal Roll entry at the Australian War Memorial, born at Jarnadup in WA, it gave her NOK as an Amelia Waterfield.

Taking the chance that Lydia more than likely had married after or during the latter stages of WW2, I went to the WA Reverse Marriages web site, sure enough Lydia Joy Waterfield had married Robert B.E.Milk in 1949, in Perth WA.

Again back to the AWM and its WW2 Nominal Roll, unfortunately there was no appearance for Robert.

Now it was to War Graves Canberra, did they have a date of death for Lydia either as a Waterfield, or as a Milk? The answer a resounding NO!

Back to WA and its on-line BDM’s, looking for any Waterfield born from 1915 onwards, there were quite a few, but I did notice that Lydia’s birth had been registered at Blackwood, as had an Alfred Arthur and a Norman Thomas Waterfield, both of whom appeared on the Nominal Roll, with Norman’s NOK shown as an Amelia Waterfield .

Now back to War Graves. Yes they did have date of death for both Alfred and Norman .

Now it was to the WA Metropolitan Cemeteries web site and there I found Alfred, but no Norman, nor could I find an appearance on the WA Reverse marriages look up for Norman. Which in turn led me to believe that he married either later than the WA records, of he married in another state, and possibly passed away there.

A quick call to a friend with Ancestry, and I had an old address for Norman, and his wife. Another quick phone call and I was speaking to his widow, she in turn provided me with the phone number not only of Lydia, who as I found out prefers to be known as Joy, but also her daughter.

Next I found myself talking to Joy, where after a long conversation, I finally convinced her that her Medals were not in storage as she believed but had been inadvertently misplaced and included in with the candelabra when they had been sold.

My final call (4.58 PM(well according to my computer clock) was to Lorraine to pass the details to her so that she and her brother can return the medals to Joy. As I write this story I am awaiting an email with an attached photo showing the re-union.

One hour, 40 minutes, not the fastest search that Lost Medals has ever done but it beats my longest record of nearly six years.

 The returned medal tally is now 1212. Pictures to follow.

MacRae family medals post update

I've just updated the post about the medals awarded to Donald and Duncan MacRae.