WWI medal find delights 91-year-old
Bernard Foster was overcome with emotion when handed his grandfather’s World War I medal.
The handing over of William Foster’s medal to his 91-year-old grandson in Timaru on Thursday was an unexpected happy ending after the medal mysteriously turned up at the Greymouth Returned Services Association (RSA) two years ago. Only last week it was given to Gavin Smith, who was travelling to Timaru with the Mururoa Veterans, and he passed it on to South Canterbury RSA member Mervyn Tyree.
Research carried out by the Greymouth RSA and Tyree led them to finding Bernard along with a confirmation that the medal belonged to his grandfather.
South Canterbury RSA president Lee Johns said they were ‘‘absolutely thrilled’’ media publicity had drawn more attention to misplaced medals following the story of Stella Smith, 88, who was reunited, on March 13, with six of her late husband, Walter Smith’s World War II medals, after they mysteriously reappeared in Timaru following a lengthy disappearance. ‘‘Clearly another piece has come to light which has been returned to the family,’’ Johns said.
‘‘If there is anyone out there who is in possession of any memorabilia, even if they don’t know what it is and they want to come forward, we’ll extend an amnesty until the end of April. No questions will be asked.
‘‘Deliver it either to the police station or back to the RSA.’’
Confusion surrounds how the latest medal came to be on the West Coast but Bernard believed one of his aunties may have moved there.
‘‘Whether it was something within our family, you never know what happens and what carried on,’’ he said.
‘‘I just can’t get over it.’’
He said the handover was ‘‘overwhelming’’.
‘‘You’ve got no idea the things that are going through my mind. I’m going to give it to my son.’’
Bernard’s family had a big involvement in World War I. On March 2, 1916, his father, Charles William Foster, was posted to the 2nd Battalion of the Canterbury Infantry Regiment, and in the May following, he was appointed lance corporal. On October 1, 1916, Charles suffered gunshot wounds to his abdomen and back.
‘‘Granddad never went over until quite late in the [first world] war. He was laying in bed with his wife one day, and he woke up and said: Charles has just been wounded.’’
Bernard’s uncles, Alfred George and Ernest Robert Foster, also served in World War I.
A Greymouth RSA spokesperson said some other medals had also been handed in at the same time as Foster’s, and it had taken some time to sort through them. The spokesperson had ‘‘no idea’’ how the medal ended up in Greymouth.