![\"\"](\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2020\/06\/found-war-medal-03-225x300.jpg\")
\u201cOne of my clients came to me and said \u2018look, we\u2019ve found this underneath the front seat of this used car we\u2019ve just bought\u2019,\u201d said Mr Bahr. \u201cIt was this Australian Service Medal.<\/p>\n
\u201cI sent information out to a few of my contacts and off to Veterans\u2019 Affairs. Then I was talking to a bloke called Bill Wyndham with Watsonia RSL and happened to mention I had this medal and said we\u2019d not had a lot of success.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe contacted this lady, Lesley O\u2019Neill, who lives in Colac and through that we found out that Barry Welsh \u2013 her brother, lives in Ballarat. So we managed to get together and the medal found its way back home.\u201d<\/p>\n
It belonged to Corporal George Arnold Welsh who had enlisted with the Australian Army in June 1940 and ended up serving until September 1945. He was wounded while serving in Africa and took part in the New Guinea campaign.<\/p>\n
As part of the recognition of his service he was awarded the Australian Service Medal 1939-1945 which he received in 1951, and then had replaced in 1957. It\u2019s not clear if the medal that was found under the car seat was the original or the replacement.<\/p>\n
Regardless, Mr Bahr said Corporal Welsh\u2019s family was grateful to receive the found connection to his father.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth the daughter and the son were very appreciative of having the medal returned to them,\u201d Mr Bahr said. \u201cI know they are going to get the whole presentation frame redone with the original medal.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Mr Bahr seeking to find the rightful owner of the medal was more than a duty, it was something he has a strong personal connection with.<\/p>\n
\u201cA medal presented to a person recognises the service that they have given to the country, but it also recognises the individual,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have my father\u2019s medals, my sons have their own medals and I look at all of that and go that\u2019s part of their history, and I don\u2019t think we should forget it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WHAT\u2019S the most interesting thing you\u2019ve found under your car seat? Some lose change, a pen, dust? For one Ballarat car buyer it was lost World War Two medal that ultimately sent Bill Bahr, a trustee of The Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, on a mission to find the award\u2019s true owner. After a nine-month […]<\/p>\n