New arrivals

[CINDERS]

These arrived today totally took me by surprise as the DOD said it would be December before they arrived so I only contacted them in December 2021, so that's pretty much light speed in my opinion.
The 2 additional medals my father was entitled to was the Australian Service Medal 1945-1975 with clasp & Bar and the 1939 - 1945 Star.

I have a trio the same as my dads that my brother brought in Qld 40 odd years ago guess he wore these instead of dads, so he passed away and I ended up with them.
So now I have contacted a provider that can legally do copies of all my fathers medals mount them in the correct order, so when I go on marches the real medals are in the safe at home.

It opened a raw patch seeing them knowing that it was in recognition for his service to this country and to the whole thing that was WWII.
He may not have been right at the pointy end but was close enough the Japs bombed the airfield he was stationed at he said it was not a nice thing.
My mum did her bit by becoming a munitions worker sadly I do not have her badge it being lost in the aftermath of my dads death.

For my Dad 1913 - 1985 Sic Itur Ad Astra

Information

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[Daan Kemp]

Sadly the meaning of the medals also pass away with the owner. The owner's descendants passing also removes the value we place on them. Eventually they all get lost.

[Flying10uk]

Sadly the meaning of the medals also pass away with the owner. The owner's descendants passing also removes the value we place on them. Eventually they all get lost.

Sad but true, one only has to look on eBay.

[CINDERS]

The funny thing in reality the medals are not supposed to be sold but as we know there is a large market for them sadly not sure if there is anything the Govt can do to stop their being sold as I am unsure whether the Govt still retains the rite of ownership or the recipient and relatives.
My dads medals will never be sold as I have a nephew in the AFP who really adored my father and would wear them along with his medals in a heart beat also my son who I have groomed about the importance of ANZAC Day and the commitment of our Armed Forces personnel.
The hat & collar badges pictured are from my mothers side of the family whom I have tried to trace from her home town of Wagin, if you know our badges then you'll understand the significance of this lot, they will go with my dads medals when I snuff it also never to be sold.
Just gotta figure who to will them to probably my nephew until my son is allot older as he has a tendency to lose gear!

[Eaglelord17]

The thing with not selling metals is over time they will lose all meaning if they were not sold. All it takes is one family member who doesn't care to inherit them and poof all meaning is lost. If they couldn't be sold they would just be thrown out instead.

At least selling them means they shall go to some collector who actually cares about the meaning behind them.

Simple example, my family has a tradition that on your 21st birthday you get a gold sovereign (or 1/4 oz of gold if we can't find any sovereigns). For me that means I am always going to keep that coin and when I have my kids, I shall acquire some sovereigns for them as well. For one of my brothers it has no meaning and he promptly sold his sovereign to me as he would rather the cash than any sort of meaning behind it. This is also why the only family heirloom, a gold 1916 model Omega pocketwatch purchased by my great-great grandfather after WWI with his earnings from the war is in my possession not his. All it takes is for me to hand it off to the wrong family member and it will be sold for the gold weight of it, the history of 5 generations passing it on (or 6 at that point) meaning nothing.

[CINDERS]

Each family has their own way of doing things mine well the military side of things is very engrained in it.
Like I said some one on my mothers side was in the WWI military, my dad a WWII vet, my brother (Dec) 20 years in the RAAF, my B/inlaw (Recently Dec) VN vet and in the RAAF after VN for 7 years.
Plus my Uncle enlisted in WWII but never posted o/seas as being a shearer it was pretty much a protected occupation.
Me I did just 3 years in the Army cadets was going to enlist in the regular army but was into motor bikes and women too much.

Anyway I digress in my case as I said the meaning of these medals and hat badges will never be lost as I know my nephew is pretty hot on the services as well.
He has received numerous commendations for his over seas service in the AFP and I'm pretty proud of him as well.
I feel sad for the memory of those that served and others that gave it all that their legacy is lost through people either not caring or understanding just what was involved.
I have always praised and will continue to those that served, those that are serving and those that will never set foot onto their countries shores where ever that may be.
I certainly will never forget what it meant to the free world.

[Surpmil]

Huguenot stock Cinders?

[CINDERS]

I always made a joke to my dad that some french person may have swum the channel to England, sadly I leant our family history done for us by a kind relative in England never to see the papers again. It traced our lineage back to the 1300's that's about all I can recall Surpmil.

Huguenot, any of the Protestants in France in the 16th and 17th centuries, many of whom suffered severe persecution for their faith. The origin of the name is uncertain, but it appears to have come from the word aignos, derived from the German Eidgenossen (confederates bound together by oath), which used to describe, between 1520 and 1524, the patriots of Geneva hostile to the duke of Savoy. The spelling Huguenot may have been influenced by the personal name Hugues, “Hugh”; a leader of the Geneva movement was one Besançon Hugues (d. 1532).

[Flying10uk]

My mum did her bit by becoming a munitions worker sadly I do not have her badge it being lost in the aftermath of my dads death.

Cinders, could you not purchase a replacement badge as, presumably, some come up for sale. Has your mum ever suffered any health problems connected with her working in a munitions factory? Apart from the risk of an explosion some of the chemicals were probably not exactly pleasant.

[CINDERS]

I don't have anything on my mum other than what my eldest sister has just recently told me and not sure if she was married to dad at that stage, mum could have been using her previous married name or her maiden name.
Mums health was pretty good for the most part and here yet again she never mentioned it, much like my father never ever talked to me about his war time experiences.