So bloody sad, although that awful War wasn’t in my lifetime.
My three sons have no real conception of World War II. “It’s History, Mother.” And I can’t say I spent much time talking to them about it when perhaps I should have done, although that one was in my lifetime.
So I don’t suppose they will care all that much about The Great War either.
I shall have to ask Robin Dominic, but we won’t be going to The Memorial in Melrand this morning because he is in the process of joining The French Fire Service and has to be at The Fire Station at 10am.
So obviously not lacking in bravery, or stupidity. I’m not sure which. Either will do I suspect.
Good. My Father’s Burma Star vanished, although he did give it to me. I didn’t take it with me when I joined The Wrens. I wish I had now. And then I could have passed it on to my sons, or at least my eldest son.
You an get replacement War Medals. And for free if you meet the criteria.
My dad’s WW2 medals had been stolen about 25 years ago, and prior to his 99th birthday I found out about the service.
Fortunately he could remember his Army Service Number, so we applied.
They asked for the theft crime record number, but of course after all that time neither us nor the police could provide one. Also they wanted to know his regiment & where he’d served.
We sent a nice plea plus photo of him at a then recent Remembrance Service, and photo.
A complete set of replacement medals & ribbons, together with an explanatory certificate of what each medal represented was received. Absolutely brilliant service! Dad was overjoyed.
Thanks for that kind thought. Sadly my father died several years ago so no chance of getting a Service Number. I have never forgotten mine, by the way.
All I know is that he was a Chindit, so not much to go on. But I will do a bit of Googling.
Sad for you for losing your father, even if he was 99. Mine was 98 when he died and it still hurt.
In 1944, in Antwerp, Belgium, my mother was 22 years old, and a beautiful girl. She was not a member of the resistance, but she shot and killed the Nazi who arrested her Jewish girlfriend who was hiding in the farm owned by the milkman. She used my grandfather’s pistol from the First World War. She told me this two hours before she died peacefully.
An amazing story, Dirk. A lot of people did help The Jews. But oh my, it must have been really frightening.
I hope your mother lived well with what she had done.
I am having some very dark thoughts about Germany and Two Wold Wars. Not a good place to be on Remembrance Sunday. So I am going to bail out on this now, and think about something else.
underdogs bite upwards 
So bloody sad, although that awful War wasn’t in my lifetime.
My three sons have no real conception of World War II. “It’s History, Mother.” And I can’t say I spent much time talking to them about it when perhaps I should have done, although that one was in my lifetime.
So I don’t suppose they will care all that much about The Great War either.
I shall have to ask Robin Dominic, but we won’t be going to The Memorial in Melrand this morning because he is in the process of joining The French Fire Service and has to be at The Fire Station at 10am.
So obviously not lacking in bravery, or stupidity. I’m not sure which. Either will do I suspect.
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I have my grandfather’s Great War medal and his Africa and Italy Stars. My father was born in 1938 so wasn’t a soldier.
I’m going to make sure my ganddaughter knows what those little bits of metal really mean.
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Good. My Father’s Burma Star vanished, although he did give it to me. I didn’t take it with me when I joined The Wrens. I wish I had now. And then I could have passed it on to my sons, or at least my eldest son.
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Elena.
You an get replacement War Medals. And for free if you meet the criteria.
My dad’s WW2 medals had been stolen about 25 years ago, and prior to his 99th birthday I found out about the service.
Fortunately he could remember his Army Service Number, so we applied.
They asked for the theft crime record number, but of course after all that time neither us nor the police could provide one. Also they wanted to know his regiment & where he’d served.
We sent a nice plea plus photo of him at a then recent Remembrance Service, and photo.
A complete set of replacement medals & ribbons, together with an explanatory certificate of what each medal represented was received. Absolutely brilliant service! Dad was overjoyed.
https://www.gov.uk/apply-medal-or-veterans-badge/replace-a-medal-or-badge
Sadly, he passed away this summer, aged 99
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Thanks for that kind thought. Sadly my father died several years ago so no chance of getting a Service Number. I have never forgotten mine, by the way.
All I know is that he was a Chindit, so not much to go on. But I will do a bit of Googling.
Sad for you for losing your father, even if he was 99. Mine was 98 when he died and it still hurt.
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Hi Elana
If you know the regiment he joined, that’ll help
Try:
https://www.iwm.org.uk/research/tracing-your-family-history/tracing-your-army-history/where-to-find-army-service-records
and
https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/search-military-records-for-free?SE=go&adID=289809260521&KW=army&SC=16&NO=549&gclid=Cj0KCQiAw5_fBRCSARIsAGodhk-hRBXqb3-Z9LlkPXUTyaB9CcccNlhDTvESlOp5gVpYweFeaFMp6XoaAnIOEALw_wcB
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Should have added that he too received the Burma Star.
He didn’t qualify for the (misnamed) ‘Africa’ Star – because the part of Africa he served in, the Gold Coast (now Ghana) was not “North Africa”!
There was no ‘Dunkirk’ medal; but the town of Dunkirque for a small fee, provided an unofficial commemorative ‘medal’ and ribbon.
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My Dad wasn’t at Dunkirk. I never quite forgave him for that in my ignorance of youth.
He was probably having a much worse time.
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In 1944, in Antwerp, Belgium, my mother was 22 years old, and a beautiful girl. She was not a member of the resistance, but she shot and killed the Nazi who arrested her Jewish girlfriend who was hiding in the farm owned by the milkman. She used my grandfather’s pistol from the First World War. She told me this two hours before she died peacefully.
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An amazing story, Dirk. A lot of people did help The Jews. But oh my, it must have been really frightening.
I hope your mother lived well with what she had done.
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The Kohima Epitaph:
“When You Go Home, Tell Them Of Us And Say,
For Your Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today”
https://www.burmastar.org.uk/memorials/kohima-epitaph/
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I am having some very dark thoughts about Germany and Two Wold Wars. Not a good place to be on Remembrance Sunday. So I am going to bail out on this now, and think about something else.
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https://twitter.com/RooBeeDoo1/status/1062085176518459392
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