Graeme Heavey Posted 3 February , 2006 Share Posted 3 February , 2006 Dear Pals, I have discovered an envelope with approx 19 Victory medals in it. They are for: 67397 Pte E. White RAMC L-10961 Pte E.S. Risley Queens Regt 115610 Pte H.F. Brown RAMC 7961 Pte A. Steoman Lincs Regt 1933 Dvr W.J. Rennie RA G-37891 Pte R Damehow Middlesex Regt 79929 Dvr J.W. Seavers R.A. 1752 Pte G. Buckingham 3 London Regt P. Chalmers T.R. M.F.A (?) GS9358 Pte W. Greenwood R. Fus 837 Pte T. Fitzgibbomns R. Fus Z.P 1129 A/B C. Massie RNVR G-3006 Pte G. Best Middlesex Regt 31998 Pte J.E Marsh Essex Regt S-28147 Pte W. Lapham Rifle Brigade L-2779 O/S 1stclass W.E. Lawrence RN SS-111834 Stoker 1st Class W. White RN 21087 Pte F.V.P. Woodcock Suffolk Regt T4-071192 Pte E.A. Holton A.S.C I must stress that I will only depart with these medals if absolute concrete proof can be given that; a) your related you can prove it beyond doubt. Its my intention that these medals go to families ONLY!!!!! My decision is FINAL-NO discussion!! I hope you can all see what I'm trying to do here!! Graeme Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshdoc Posted 3 February , 2006 Share Posted 3 February , 2006 good for you , none are my grandfathers so i keep on looking. good luck gareth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cockney tone Posted 3 February , 2006 Share Posted 3 February , 2006 Graeme, don't suppose you would believe me when I tell you I had 19 Grandads who served in the Great War? Well ok, worth a try. Good luck with your aim and hope you can reunite somebody with an heirloom its really kind of you to try. The only thing I find in envelopes seem to be red bills, some people have all the luck. Regards, Scottie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graeme Heavey Posted 3 February , 2006 Author Share Posted 3 February , 2006 Thanks for your support guys!!! I am trying to do the honourable thing here. I would hope if someone somewhere has my gt grandads medals they would do the same for me. Alas, I think he pawned them in the 20's or 30's so the chances are less than good on that score. I can, again and perhaps paranoidly, confirm I didnt get them by foul means. They were going to be thrown away in an office clearout and I took exception to that and, well, sort of rescued them ( ahem!!) There was a massive box of various medals from both world wars, Korea, Borneo, Malaya etc etc. Some groups were 6-7 medals!! I took them home and me and Dad cleaned them and returned them to Regimental museums as this was early 1990's and the internet was a long way away!! These I never got around to and got the bug to find them the other day and hey presto, my mum had put them in a safe place. Me and dad used loads of cleaner and rag just to expose the details on the rims!!! I hope I get a lucky punter soon, I am determined they only go to family though!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshdoc Posted 3 February , 2006 Share Posted 3 February , 2006 What sort of office were they in? I must change jobs. You must be an amazingly honest and moral family, if it was legal and they were to be thrown I would have kept the lot. But saying that its a nice idea to try to reuinte the Vics with the families. Gareth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max (UK) Posted 3 February , 2006 Share Posted 3 February , 2006 Blimey that is some find, Graeme. FULL respect to you for doing what you are doing, matey. Might be worth browsing through the "wanted medals" pages - erm...erm....I don't have links to them if you don't know them. Anyone? Hopefully you'll reunite some people with long-looked for medals and they'll be well chuffed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Robertson Posted 3 February , 2006 Share Posted 3 February , 2006 Graeme, Following on from Lee's posting yesterday (Lee's good deed), your decision to try and reunite the medals is worthy of applause. Maybe the "evil medal collectors" villified in other recent posters aren't such a bad lot after all? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt_Hazell_Great_Grandson Posted 3 February , 2006 Share Posted 3 February , 2006 Graeme, Following on from Lee's posting yesterday (Lee's good deed), your decision to try and reunite the medals is worthy of applause. Maybe the "evil medal collectors" villified in other recent posters aren't such a bad lot after all? Derek , a trend that will no doubt catch on . Roland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarryBettsMCDCM Posted 3 February , 2006 Share Posted 3 February , 2006 Just a tad tough luck if you happen to be a Collector with one of these Victorys missing from a Group????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graeme Heavey Posted 3 February , 2006 Author Share Posted 3 February , 2006 Thanks Derek. I'm not a medal collector but just felt these medals should be with their families, whatever generation!! I wasnt going to post it in case I get into any stick at work, but I work for the MoD and at the time of getting these medals I was working in a fairly top office and we had to get rid of stuff and me being me, took exception to the instruction and the rest is in previous posts. As an aside, my mums family are Robertsons and my grandads eldest brother, Charlie, saved his officers life in the Great War by picking him up in no-mans land and carrying him back to a regimental first aid post and gave him a direct blood transfusion. This officer was the son of some posh family ( excuse my eastend cockney expressions, Wapping born you know!! ) and he saved him. After the war the blokes parents came to my great nan and grandads house and presented him with a full valise set with engraved silver brushes and all that malarkey. Trying to find out what ret he served in now, there a loads of Charles Robertsons!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt_Hazell_Great_Grandson Posted 3 February , 2006 Share Posted 3 February , 2006 Thanks Derek. I'm not a medal collector but just felt these medals should be with their families, whatever generation!! Sir , you bring a tear to a grown mans eye. You are , of course , quite correct. Regards, Roland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave_59 Posted 3 February , 2006 Share Posted 3 February , 2006 Well done Graham, nice to see someone that wants the medals to go to the right place. We dont want to see a repeat of a notable previous saga. dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graeme Heavey Posted 3 February , 2006 Author Share Posted 3 February , 2006 Just found a pair!! A 1915 star and Victory medal to 53192 Sgt J.M Young 18th Bn CEF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raster Scanning Posted 3 February , 2006 Share Posted 3 February , 2006 Graham Great sentiment, but I fear you will be looking after these medals for a long long time! The question has to be asked, why were they in an envelope ready for the dustbin in the first place? If the recipients immediate family wanted them, they would still have them. I wish you good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westkent78 Posted 3 February , 2006 Share Posted 3 February , 2006 Graeme, I applaud your efforts and wish you luck in finding the relations, but I have a few questions. What will happen to those that you don't find relatives for? Will they stay in the envelope until you get round to them again or will they go to a museum where they'll be put in the drawers full of similar medals and left unresearched- or worse, from your point of view, put on the open market on the quiet? If they were with us nefarious medal collectors they'd be researched and some part of the recipient's story would be uncovered (not that we have a monopoly on this type of thing, but lets face it we have more interest in doing so than most and not necessarily for monetary reasons as some think). And in case anyone is wondering, none of these medals are to my family members and I have no interest in any of these from a collecting point of view. I'm not wishing to start the medal collector/family debate again as we all know where each other stands, but I just wanted to raise some questions for Graeme to consider. Once again good luck, and I hope you do find all 19/20 relatives. Best regards, Matthew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graeme Heavey Posted 3 February , 2006 Author Share Posted 3 February , 2006 Matthew, thanks for your views. I dont really want to get into a ruck with anybody, just thought it was the right thing to try and do. I can see the advantage of medal collecting from a certain point of view eg reuniting groups and resurrecting the memory of a poor soul who suffered terribly and shouldnt be forgotten etc but I also see that some families, like mine, would maybe like the chance to see or own their ancestors medal. Like I say, I'm not here to judge anybody, just trying to help out a bit thats all. I have had some success in the past and I saw the amount of medal wants on another blog and knew that me and Dad had put some away somewhere etc etc. I know there are good intentions out there, whatever you point of view. Mine is one of those I hope!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jonny956 Posted 3 February , 2006 Share Posted 3 February , 2006 I do appreciate your fine endeavour here, but what are you going to do in 6 months when you still have the bulk of the medals? Might I respectfully suggest a nice home would be the Army Museum? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westkent78 Posted 3 February , 2006 Share Posted 3 February , 2006 And to save anyone else checking,the only casualty I could find appears to be G/3006 Pte. George Best of 4/Middlesex who died on 28/04/1917 and is commemorated on the Arras Memorial. So Graeme has a slightly better chance of direct descendants still being out there for most of these. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Robertson Posted 3 February , 2006 Share Posted 3 February , 2006 Just found a pair!! A 1915 star and Victory medal to 53192 Sgt J.M Young 18th Bn CEF. Graeme, Well done but alas when I looked him up in the Canadian archives thinking that they may give an address in a small village or the like - unfortunately he was from the small village called London, England! And his BWM is still missing. http://data2.archives.ca/cef/gpc018/692149a.gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graeme Heavey Posted 3 February , 2006 Author Share Posted 3 February , 2006 Yes there are a few options here but I'll weigh each one up and do what I think is best. I have already emailed a few museums who tell me the medals will be 'home' with them if the families dont want them or arent interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raster Scanning Posted 3 February , 2006 Share Posted 3 February , 2006 Graeme I think the first one on your list is Pte Edward Whittle not White. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt_Hazell_Great_Grandson Posted 3 February , 2006 Share Posted 3 February , 2006 I can see the advantage of medal collecting from a certain point of view eg reuniting groups and resurrecting the memory of a poor soul who suffered terribly and shouldnt be forgotten etc but I also see that some families, like mine, would maybe like the chance to see or own their ancestors medal. Very wise words. Don`t be put off from your task in hand. The soldiers family come way way way in front of any medal collector. Roland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveBrigg Posted 3 February , 2006 Share Posted 3 February , 2006 Out of curiosity I tried looking up the Lincs man, in case his family could be traced. There is no private A Steoman. A search of the medal index gives Stedman, Augustus, with the correct Regt and number. If this wasn't a typo on the first post, could it be that these medals were returns? Would that explain why they are just Victory medals? Just seen the post above about White / Whittle. It's looking more likely this was the case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Robertson Posted 3 February , 2006 Share Posted 3 February , 2006 I know there are good intentions out there, whatever you point of view. Mine is one of those I hope!! Yes, I'm on your side of the fence on this one Graeme even though I know that the chance of locating any nok to these men is very, very remote. However, for this slim chance ever to be possible, the names of the men have to be circulated and this is what you have done - they are now in the public domain possibly after 80 years of being hidden away. You could have hidden them away again, sold them or given them to a museum but you have choosen to advertise that they exist in the hope of making someone very happy. So well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raster Scanning Posted 3 February , 2006 Share Posted 3 February , 2006 The second is Pte Edward S Riseley, not Risley. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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