Found medal reunited with soldier’s family

WHAT’S the most interesting thing you’ve 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’s true owner.

After a nine-month search across Victoria and as well as help from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs in Canberra, turns out the story not only started but also finished here in Ballarat.

“One of my clients came to me and said ‘look, we’ve found this underneath the front seat of this used car we’ve just bought’,” said Mr Bahr. “It was this Australian Service Medal.

“I sent information out to a few of my contacts and off to Veterans’ 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’d not had a lot of success.

“He contacted this lady, Lesley O’Neill, who lives in Colac and through that we found out that Barry Welsh – her brother, lives in Ballarat. So we managed to get together and the medal found its way back home.”

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.

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’s not clear if the medal that was found under the car seat was the original or the replacement.

Regardless, Mr Bahr said Corporal Welsh’s family was grateful to receive the found connection to his father.

“Both the daughter and the son were very appreciative of having the medal returned to them,” Mr Bahr said. “I know they are going to get the whole presentation frame redone with the original medal.”

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.

“A medal presented to a person recognises the service that they have given to the country, but it also recognises the individual,” he said.

“I have my father’s medals, my sons have their own medals and I look at all of that and go that’s part of their history, and I don’t think we should forget it.”