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General => Armed Forces => Topic started by: Greensleeves on Monday 10 June 19 10:17 BST (UK)
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I'd appreciate your advice regarding my late father-in-law's WW2 medals. His name was Stanley Claude Green and he was in the Royal Marines doing service during WW2 on both the Russian convoys and in Japan at the time of liberation. His grandson is anxious to trace his medals which are missing. Unfortunately the belief is that Stan might have given them away during his later years when he was suffering the early symptoms of dementia. He died in 1996. I don't have his service number and Ancestry has thrown up little information on his service record giving only a Long Service & Good Conduct Medal awarded in the 1950s and his appointment as Temporary Lieutenant for duty with the Sea Cadet Corps (a role he held for many years).
So really my questions are: Is it possible to get a replacement set of medals to replace those lost? And if we are unable to find his service number can my step-son still apply for his service records?
Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated.
Kind regards
GS
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You cannot claim replacement medals but you can buy replicas. Unlike WW1 medals, WW2 medals were not engraved with the recipients name and details. If you google, there are plenty of firms selling second hand and or replacement medals.
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The Ministry of Defence (MoD) do not issue duplicate medals. As a child, I buried my father's WW2 medals in the garden - "buried treasure" and then promptly forgot where! :-[
Years later, I found a letter from The MoD in his correspondence refusing his request for duplicates.
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You can get his service records without his service number, they do need his date of birth and death certificate.
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Thank you so much for the information Jebber, Diplodicus and Rosie. I'll pass it on to my stepson - if he applies for Stan's service records, he could then see about replacing the lost medals. That would be a very nice thing to do and it would ensure that his memory was kept alive by the medals being passed down the line.
I am trying to imagine the scene in the household when it was discovered that Diplodicus had buried his father's medals..... I wonder if they were ever found subsequently, or whether they will be unearthed in the future, with archaeologists conjecturing as to why they should have been so hidden.
Thanks again for the advice - very much appreciated.
Kindest regards
GS