Stolen medals ‘priceless’ to British veteran
In Jim Watson’s 24 years of service with the British Army, he was deployed to the Iraq War, where he was a part of a front-line medical aid team that provided support for hospitals that treated casualties, prisoners of war and fellow troops.
Watson, now a retired staff sergeant in the Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers, was sent to theatres of war that marked most of the post-Cold War modern era. He was deployed to the first Iraq War; he helped to fight terror in Northern Ireland; he went with a task force to Macedonia. He also took part in the liberation of Kuwait.
He described his role as a “support” role. In the first Gulf War, he helped to locate the “enemy.” In Bosnia and Macedonia, he worked to stop the fighting. For each deployment, the British Army awarded him medals for service. His name is etched on each of them.
On Monday, he returned to his home in Kindersley, where he has lived for 20 months, to find it in disarray. The medals had been stolen.
“They mean everything,” Watson said in a phone interview. “There’s nothing in this world apart from my family — my family is the most important thing to me — there’s nothing that can be replaced. These can’t be replaced. To me, they’re priceless. They mean 24 years of service ... so everybody can have their freedom.”
He has war medals from the Gulf War, Bosnia, the UN, Northern Ireland, Macedonia, the Iraq War and the Queen’s Jubilee. Medals for the Liberation of Kuwait and Gulf War Saudi Arabia were also reported stolen, as well as other war memorabilia and belongings. According to the RCMP, the theft occurred between Oct. 21 and Oct. 23.
Watson retired in 2004 and makes his home in Medicine Hat, Alta., but works in Kindersley five days a week, where he maintains his second home.
He said he’d be “very relieved” if someone recovered the medals. He’s proud of them, and he would like to pass them down to future generations in his family.
Watson has friends checking shops, and he has checked as well. He said it would be hard for the thief to sell the medals to someone else — even to a collector of such memorabilia, since his name is engraved them.
The theft doesn’t change how he views the community; he still feels there are a lot of good people in Kindersley, he said.
“There’s also a ton of people sending me messages ... condolences and well wishes and are all kind of rooting for me to get my medals back. Yeah, there’s a good community here. It’s just a shame there’s a small portion of it that aren’t good.”
RCMP want anyone who may spot the medals to contact their local detachment.