A very difficult search

This search has proved to be very difficult. VX149934 William Offer served with 12th Small Ships Company which is a rather well known Australian Army unit from WWII. Unfortunately, the trail for a family member went cold with William having had no children. Bill did some fantastic research to work his way through the family of William's sister and find the closest relative that we could.

Medals returned tally is now 543.

A great book for kids

In the Military Related Links on the right hand side of this page is a link to Your Defence. This site is a fantastic resource for ADF families.
The ADF kids books is a great idea for helping to explain to the children of ADF service personnel what it is that their parents do in uniform. I think it will also go a long way to help the broader community understand what military life is all about.
Of particular delight to me is the Army edition which includes a picture of my medals. This entry explains what the slang word 'gongs' means.

What has this medal been through?

This medal has had a very hard life. It is the WWII War Medal awarded to NX162773 Harold Francis Horton. As you can see from the pictures the suspender has broken away from the medal. Also the impressing on the edge is not very distinct. I suspect that at some point someone has tried to remove the naming. Finally the medal is very dirty particularly around the text on the obverse. Despite all this we have found the family and the medal will be returned very soon.

The medal returned tally is now 539.

WWI DOW medal

2LT Gordon Minto Browne enlisted (no 517) on 21 November 1915 and was allocated to 42nd Bn. He was eventually commissioned and wounded very late in the war and died of his wounds on 2 October 1918 at Mont St Quentin, France. He is buried at Tincourt New British Cemetery (Plot V, Row J, Grave No. 3), France.

The medal has had a very hard life having lost its suspender. This is the 538 medal returned by Lost Medals Australia.

WWII group of 5

This group of five WWII medals awarded to QX11131 John James Mossison has been with me for a bit over three years. Bill did some great research to track down the family and the medals will be returned next week.
Medal returned tally is now 537.

WA medal

This Africa Star to WX11265 John Goydon Curtis has been lost for some time and was only recently sent to me. Once again Bill's good work quickly located the family. The rest of the group are still missing but this one will head home soon.
The medal returned tally is now 532.

3266 SGT Edward Snell

3266 SGT Edward Snell was born in Queensland but spent some time in WA before WWI. He followed the gold rush as he puts his trade down as a miner and he served in the Goldfields Regiment. When he enlisted his father lived in Marble Bar, WA and that is where Snell was buried in 1960. His medal was sent to me from Dampier, another town in the North West of WA. The medal has had a hard life with the suspender bent and several dents. However, it is on its way back to the family. I would like to make special mention of Jade who was able to find and check the missing records for accuracy. This ultimately assisted us locating the family.


The medal returned tally is now 531.

3 Minutes

Today I received a medal in the mail that was not familiar to me. Just by looking at the medal it wasn't hard to work out it is a Vietnam War commemorative medal. That is a non-official medal. The details on the edge are: W.S. McLean 7158. Once I got home form the post office I looked up McLean on the Vietnam War nominal roll. He originally came from Kingaroy. There is one W Smith listed in the Whitepages so I took a punt and rang the number. Sure enough it is the same man. From the time I sat at the computer until the time I confirmed this was his medal took a total of 3 three minutes.

Medal returned tally 530.

Gallipoli Died of Wounds

618 William Middlebrook was a member of 14th Bn, he arrived at Gallipoli in May 1915. He received a gunshot wound on 27 May and was evacuated to a hospital ship. He died of wounds on 29 May 1915 and was buried at sea. His medal entitlement was the 1914-15 Star, The British War Medal and the Victory Medal were sent to his brother Thomas. At some point they have been lost and were recently handed in to the Victorian Police who sent them to me.

The medal returned tally is now 529.

Who is online?

For the last month I have had a new online map for this blog. It shows where someone has viewed from in the previous 24 hours and who is online at the moment with a flashing green symbol. I find it very interesting to see where people are viewing from, especially when I'm on line at the same time.
Thank you for visiting this blog and this link will show you as being online.

This return is to the niece of NX 24326 R.T. Madden. Bill has been very frustrated with this search but some fantastic help from the Australian Surnames Group. I would like to quote Bill here:
'So when you put up the Blog can you mention the ladies of YUKKI and the lovely Sharon, and Charlee who provided the break through, in particular Sharon when she suggested that I discard the 'death notice' I had for a Mary Jane MARTIN and go back to the beginning. Which is what I did and now 7 months later. Were there..'.


The tally of medals returned is now 527.

Duplicate set and going home

This set came to us from the Queensland Police Service. These are an officially issued duplicate set and marked with a 'D', awarded to VX12431 John Lewis Brown. The medal returned tally is now 522.

Lost in the post

One of the organisations I have a great relationship with is Australia Post. My contact, Jackie, is a really fantastic lady and she collects medals that come adrift in the post and forwards them to me. Between us we have returned many medals to families. This return is a bit different. Jackie sent me four medals recently and as it turned out they originated from a coin and medal dealer. So through the dealer they are going back to the rightful owner. Medals returned tally is now 518.

A family group

This return is unusual in several ways. The medals are to WF45520 Jessie Ellen Wallace and WX37834 David Ross Winsor. They came to me mounted as groups ready to wear. It took a bit to work out that Jessie and David were married which is the first married couple I've had medals to.
The second unusual thing was the condition of the medals. They are in mint condition. I had recently been reading the book 'Australians Awarded' by Clive Johnson and I came across a comment about different types of the Defence Medal and the Australian Service Medal. I hadn't realised that there were later productions due to the original production run having been all used up. The original type had the designers initials under the King's head. The later types had no initials. Also medals issued after 1992 were named using pantograph rather than being impressed. So these medals have no initial and named in pantograph. There is no 'D' to indicate they are officially issued duplicates. From all this I believe they are late issue medals.



Medal returned tally is 514.

A local return

I was recently sent a Vietnam War Campaign awarded to 6709604 Douglas Robert Kilpatrick. He served with 2nd Advanced Ordnance Depot. I had a bit of trouble tracking him down however, the key was a electoral roll entry that Bill found. This lead was exactly right and I spoke to Doug today. I'll return his medal in the very near future and since he and I live in the same city, I do this return in person. The medal returned tally is now 509.

5163 PTE Fredrick Pearson

The BWM awarded to 5163 PTE Fredrick Pearson was sent to me almost 2 years ago. Pearson was a bit of a lad and got in to a bit of trouble. He was also wounded on several occasions. His service record is pretty interesting. Returned medal tally is 508.

Gilpin

In April, I received the WWII group of four awarded to NX108259 Keith Lyall Gilpin. These medals are in mint condition, they have never been mounted or worn. This brings to 507 the number of medals that Lost Medals Australia has returned.

WOFF Braid

It is a real privilege to return medals to a veteran who is still alive. In this case the veteran is RAAF WOFF 32531 Donald Nicol Braid. I had a great chat with him last night and very soon I'll be sending him two of his WWII medals.

The returned medal tally is 503.

2646 PTE W.V. Flanagan

This medal has had a pretty tough life. 2646 PTE William Vincent Flanagan was KIA on 7 Jun 1917 (92 years ago tomorrow) and the medal was sent to his mother. The medal has lost its suspender and is rather dented. I've had it for about 8 years so where it has been during the intervening period is anyone's guess. This is medal number 501 returned by Lost Medals Australia.

Number 500

Today Lost Medals Australia has reached a significant milestone. The return of the WWI BWM to the family of 3265 Frank Freer Connors is the 500th medal that has been returned by Lost Medals Australia.

Leonard Edward Foster

I have had the medals awarded to Leonard Edward Forster for over five years, so the resolution of this search is very satisfying. Once again, Bill is to be congratulated on putting all the pieces in place. This takes the tally to 499 medals returned.

An overdue update

As you can see from my last post I have been overseas for a bit. While I have been away Bill has been doing some wonderful research. He has located six families with considerable help from our friends at The Australian Surnames Group. I've also been contacted by one family. Here are some photos and links to service records.

513 Claude Henry Jarmain 5 LHR

7535 PTE William Pearce 3rd Bn

NX153520 Jack McCabe

VX123415 John Lube O'Dwyer

118261 William Tonkin

The tally of medals that have been returned to veterans or families is now 496.