returned medals

[kohinoor8080]

Hello everyone , I was hoping for some advice. My great Uncle was shellshocked and in later years died in a mental asylum . He or his wife returned his medals and I was wondering if the family were able to reclaim them and if so how to go about it . T hanks for any help in advance

Paul

[headgardener]

I think that the simple answer is 'No', they don't issue replacements any more.

I'd suggest that you check what the MIC and medal rolls say regarding how the medals were disposed of. It may be that they were never issued in the first place (perhaps they didn't have an up-to-date address for him, or for his next-of-kin after he died), or maybe they were thrown away rather than being returned to the Army Medals Office (in which case the AMO records will simply record them as having been issued). Do you have his MIC?

[kohinoor8080]

I think that the simple answer is 'No', they don't issue replacements any more.

I'd suggest that you check what the MIC and medal rolls say regarding how the medals were disposed of. It may be that they were never issued in the first place (perhaps they didn't have an up-to-date address for him, or for his next-of-kin after he died), or maybe they were thrown away rather than being returned to the Army Medals Office (in which case the AMO records will simply record them as having been issued). Do you have his MIC?

My son is getting a copy made today so I don,t have it on me but he was issued 2 medals and the letters retd are on it .This means returned apparently , it may have been they were wrongly inscribed or his address not found but what would have happened to these medals?

[headgardener]

Therte are several different reasons why medals may have been returned, there'll be some note about it on the MIC, usually in the form of a reference to King's Regulations (KR's). This will indicate the reasons for them being returned. Probably because they couldn't trace your man's next-of-kin, I suspect. When did he die? Try posting the MIC details here and see what we can make of them.

Returned medals would have been scrapped after a period of time. KR's seems to indicate 10 years in most (maybe all?) cases, though given the many thousands of returned medals which would have been floating around the AMO in the early 1920's, I'm tempted to wonder whether they weren't scrapped much sooner on the basis that the AMO could always prepare some more if the individual eventually resurfaced.

[kohinoor8080]

I was looking at the card and it says retd then found in brackets . It looks like they were returned in 1925 . David was admitted to the mental hospital in 1924 , I can only assume his wife returned them because of what happened to him . I was just hoping that we could have reclaimed them,thanks for your help .

Paul

[headgardener]

I was looking at the card and it says retd then found in brackets .

If it says 'Retd. (found)' it implies that they were literally found having been lost or discarded by your man or his family. So it looks like they were issued but then thrown away or lost somewhere. The medal office may have waited for them to be reclaimed, and assuming they weren't (there would be a mention of them being re-issued) they would have been scrapped. The medal roll itself might have some further details (I saw one which said the medal in question had been found in the street sometime in the 1960's).

[kohinoor8080]

If it says 'Retd. (found)' it implies that they were literally found having been lost or discarded by your man or his family. So it looks like they were issued but then thrown away or lost somewhere. The medal office may have waited for them to be reclaimed, and assuming they weren't (there would be a mention of them being re-issued) they would have been scrapped. The medal roll itself might have some further details (I saw one which said the medal in question had been found in the street sometime in the 1960's).

Thank you for your help