Search underway for owner of forgotten World War II medals

[Nfld Sapper]

Search underway for owner of forgotten World War II medals

These framed Second World War medals with the photo of an unknown soldier were left behind at Folkgraphics Frames in 1995. Do you know this veteran?

Thursday, November 06, 2008
EDMONTON, Alberta – Master Corporal Larry Young of CFB/ASU Edmonton had no idea what he was getting into when he walked into Folkgraphics Frames in Edmonton recently. A long-standing wholesale and framing business, it specializes in custom framing for thousands of clients.

MCpl Young, who works for the Service Person Holding List (SPHL), was there to pick up his unit´s monthly order of frames for departing members when store operations manager Heather Robertson asked for his help.

Medal mystery began in 1995
In 1995, Folkgraphics Frames was subcontracted by Markiw Imports Inc. to build a custom shadow box for six Second World War medals with a black and white photo of the person believed to be the recipient. The pictures were dropped off for framing on December 14m 1995 and were to be picked up shortly thereafter, on December 20, but they never were.

Photo of the soldier whose Second World War medals were left behind at Folkgraphic Frames in 1995.

The store searched for the owner of these medals for years. Staff even took the framed medals with them when the shop moved.

"We handed the medals over to MCpl Young to see if the military could help in the search since Markiw Imports Inc. has gone out of business," said Ms. Robertson.

Upon his return to the base, MCpl Young informed his superior, Captain Steve Lowery, commanding officer SPHL Edmonton, of what he had just received.

"Someone is missing these medals and we want to get them back to their rightful owner," said Capt Lowery. "We are hoping that by getting the word out, someone will come forward."

If the picture looks at all familiar and you think you know who might own the medals, please contact Capt Steve Lowery at lowery.js@forces.gc.ca.

The medals
The six medals found in the case are:

The War Medal 1939-45: Awarded to all full-time personnel of the armed forces and merchant marines serving a minimum 28 days between
September 3, 1939 and September 2, 1945.

The Canadian Volunteer Service Medal: Granted to persons of any rank in the Army, Navy or Air Force of Canada who voluntarily served on Active Service and honourably completed eighteen months (540 days) total voluntary service from September 3, 1939 to March 1, 1947.

The Defence Medal: Awarded to Canadians for six months service in Britain between September 3, 1939 and May 8, 1945.

The France and Germany Star: Awarded for one day or more of service in France, Belgium, Holland or Germany between June 6, 1944 (D-Day) and May 8, 1945.

The Italy Star: Awarded for one day operational service in Sicily or Italy between June 11, 1943 and May 8, 1945.

The 1939-45 Star: Awarded for six months service on active operations for Army and Navy, and two months for active aircrew between September 2, 1939 and May 8, 1945 (Europe) or September 2, 1945 (Pacific).

Article by Sgt Dan Milburn, Army News, Edmonton
Photos by MCpl Peter Simpson, Sgt Dan Milburn


Project Number:08-0730

 

[Michael OLeary]

Well, there's no identifying insignia in the photo, and the medal group is one of the more common combinations for Canadian servicemen - denoting service in the Italian and North-West European campaigns as well as at least six months in England.  Likely a soldier of the First Canadian Division.  It's too bad that Second World War medals were issued unnamed.

Since they have been mounted separately, and are in reverse order, it is possible that they had never been mounted for wear by the soldier.  It is possible that he was a casualty and the family had kept them in the issue boxes until taking them in to be framed.

The best we can do is to keep the images and associated information on line.

 

[ENGINEERS WIFE]

Edmonton military officials try to solve wartime mystery
Updated: Mon Nov. 10 2008 12:11:37

Laura Tupper, ctvedmonton.ca

It's a mystery dating back to the Second World War. More than sixty years after the war ended, the Canadian military is taking steps to ensure the untold sacrifices and bravery of another Canadian soldier aren't forgotten.

Six Second World War medals and a framed portrait of an unknown Canadian soldier were recently turned over to the Canadian forces.

The wartime memorabilia has been sitting in the basement of an Edmonton framing shop since 1995. It's believed a family took the items there to have them framed but the company later shut down...and the items were never returned.

Officials at Edmonton Garrison believe somebody in Edmonton knows the soldier's surviving family members and is calling on them to come forward to collect the valuable piece of military history.

Captain Steve Lowery says the family deserves to be reunited with their loved one's medals and wartime photo.

 

[Privateer]

From CBC:
Link:  http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2008/11/10/edm-medals-mystery.html

There are pictures of the man and the medals on the link.

Military officials in Edmonton are asking the public to help identify a man they call "the unknown soldier" so they can return some Second World War medals left unclaimed in a city framing shop.
Six service medals belonging to this man were left unclaimed for 13 years at an Edmonton framing shop. Six service medals belonging to this man were left unclaimed for 13 years at an Edmonton framing shop. (Department of National Defence)

The six medals, which are framed in a shadow box, had been left at Folkgraphis Frames 13 years ago.

"This was a soldier who obviously went through the entire World War Two. He was in Italy. He was in northern Europe. He put it out there for Canada and what we're going to try and do is see if we can find him," Capt. Steve Lowery said at the Edmonton Garrison on Monday.

Contact information for the family had been lost. Folkgraphis had been contracted to do the shadow-box framing by another Edmonton company, which has since gone out of business, taking the contact information with it.

One of the owners of Folkgraphis handed over the medals to the military two weeks ago, when another soldier, Master Cpl. Larry Young, was picking up an order at the store.

"Just to find out who this is, and to give them to a grandson or son or daughter or wife, is very important," Young said.

The frame contains a black and white photo of the soldier in the centre, flanked by his medals, which include the Defence Medal, the Canadian Volunteer Service medal and the War Medal. The stars mark the man's service in Italy, Germany and France.

While they're not worth any money, Lowery said they would have significant sentimental value to the family of the soldier in the picture.

"We're hoping somebody … will see this and recognize Dad or Grandpa, or brother," he said.
The frame containing the medals has been left unclaimed since December 1995. The frame containing the medals has been left unclaimed since December 1995. (Lydia Neufeld/CBC)

The medals aren't stamped with the man's name nor is the photo marked.

According to military historians he's spoken with, Lowery said the fact the soldier is wearing a tie in the photograph suggests he was an officer, and a little bit older, perhaps fighting in the war when he was in his 20s.

"He likely now would be in his 90s, if he is living, and we certainly hope that he is," Lowery said. "We're suspecting in that era people weren't as mobile as they are today, so we're guessing that he was probably an Alberta man who joined the army and served within one of the Alberta regiments."

Those regiments could include the Loyal Edmonton, Lord Strathcona's Horse, or the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, Lowery said.

 

[Blackadder1916]

And the mystery is solved.

Grandson identifies mystery soldier
Ardrossan man steps forward to claim photograph of Clark Gable-like grandfather and six medals left for framing in 1995
 
Sarah O'Donnell, With files from Ben Gelinas  The Edmonton Journal; With files from Global TV  Tuesday, November 11, 2008

EDMONTON - An Edmonton-area man stepped forward late Monday to claim six Second World War medals and a portrait of a Canadian soldier after a day-long national media search for the identity of the mystery soldier.

The medals and portrait -- left unclaimed for 13 years in a local framing shop -- belonged to Jim Friel, said his grandson Merlin Friel, who recognized the veteran's photo on television.

"That's my grandpa," Merlin Friel said. "I had goosebumps because I didn't know much about his war history. He was pretty private about his military experience, but he'd never miss a war movie or a war documentary."

The black-and-white-photograph of a young Canadian soldier and six medals for service in the Second World War had been hanging in a local shop since 1995, when someone dropped off the medals with a photograph of a man with dark, combed-back hair and a Clark Gable-style mustache.

"We just hoped for years that someone would show up," said Heather Robertson, who has worked for Folkgraphis Frames for the past four years.

The medals were dropped off right before Merlin Friel's grandmother died, he said Monday night. Jim Friel died in 1972, when Merlin was nine.

"I remember him very vividly. I'm an only son of an only son. I spent a lot of time with my grandfather at that age," Merlin Friel said from Ardrossan.

"They always called him Clark Gable. He looked very much like Clark Gable ... He looked very much in the photo as he did in his 70s."

Merlin Friel called the Edmonton Garrison and left a message claiming the medals and photo are his grandfather's. He had yet to hear back Monday night.

"He was in the artillery," Friel said. He hopes the officers at the Garrison will explain how his grandfather earned the medals.

The search for their owner began two weeks ago when Master Cpl. Larry Young came into the shop and Robertson asked for his help. Young and others at the Edmonton Garrison this week asked the public for help identifying the unknown soldier.

"These medals are not monetarily valuable," Capt. Steve Lowery as the search began. "It's more sentimental. This individual paid with all kinds of suffering. He gave it all up for five to six years of his time, and I think the least we can do is spend a few minutes to reunite him with his medals."

While Friel knows little about his grandfather's service, the medals provide important clues. They include:

- The Italy Star, awarded for operational service in Sicily or Italy between June 11, 1943, and May 8, 1945.

- The France and Germany Star, awarded for service in France, Belgium, Holland or Germany between D-Day and May 8, 1945.

- And the 1939-1945 Star, given to recognize at least six months of active service during the Second World War.

"This is an individual who as far as I can tell, in Europe, was involved in every theatre of operation," Lowery said.

The man also received the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal, the Defence Medal and the War Medal 1939-1945.

Such medals were awarded by the thousands. About 305,000 Canadians received the 1939-1945 Star, while 91,000 received the Italy Star. The France and Germany Star was issued to 230,000 Canadians.

"Unfortunately, the medals of that era were not stamped with names and service numbers. The picture does not have any indicators on it who the photographer was, service number or name," Lowery said before Merlin Friel came forward. "When the picture was mounted, it was glued, so we can't pull any information off the back of it. It really is a mystery."

Lowery said history buffs he knows suggested the man in the photograph was an officer, based on the fact that he wore a tie in the picture.