The Joys of Medal Collecting

[Terry]

When I began collecting CEF groups a number of years ago, my first goal was to acquire a trio to every numbered fighting unit which qualified for one, and a pair to all the combat units which arrived after 1 Jan.,1916. It didn't seem unreasonable, as the CEF fielded four divisions so the numbers wouldn't be huge.

One of the hard to find units, for some reason, was the 49th (Edmonton) Battalion. In the last seven or eight years I never even saw a trio to them, although pairs showed up once or twice. Then a couple of weeks ago, on ebay a KIA trio to Pte.Alexander Kerr, 49th Bn., was listed. I was fortunate to able to add the group to my collection. Oddly, this week, another 49th KIA trio surfaced on ebay.

I guess if you wait long enough everything will eventually show up. By the way, my "wants" list for numbered CEF units is now down to two: a trio to the 4th Cdn Mounted Rifles, and a pair to the disbanded 73rd Bn. The hunt continues...

[Derek Robertson]

Well done Terry.

I'm ashamed to say that my Great-Grandfather's 28th Battalion trio were split up before I knew of him and his 1914-15 Star was made into a broach!