Found: War hero’s long lost medal
Award unearthed at medieval site
A WAR hero’s bravery medal was dug up by archaeologists excavating a medieval pathway before they passed it on to his grateful family.
The Military Medal – an award for gallantry and devotion to duty when under fire – was presented to Sergeant Alfred Blake by King George VI.
He collected the medal at the evacuation of France in 1940. But it is thought the Royal Engineer lost the award, the fifth highest military decoration, while walking in woods.
It has been discovered by volunteers during a dig at Shorne Woods Country Park, near Gravesend, Kent.
Trevor Bent, who found the medal, then launched a mission to track down Sgt Blake’s sons, Alan and Robert.
Alan, 70, said: “We didn’t realise he’d lost the medal so it was a shock to get it back. It’s fantastic to have the original after all this time. My father never really spoke a lot about the war but he was always a military man and very proud of it, so it brought back great memories.”
The father-of-five, who died on July 14, 2004, aged 86, had been in the Territorial Army then joined the Royal Marines at the beginning of the war. He was selected to move to Northern Ireland.
He worked on several secret operations, including rescuing the Dutch royal family and gold reserves from Holland. He had been the chairman of the Gravesend branch of the Royal Engineers Association.
Andrew Mayfield, community archaeologist at Kent County Council, said: “Only about 15,000 of these medals were given out.
“It was an unusual medal to be awarded, an even more unusual medal to find buried during a medieval dig.”