reuniting British ww1 medaille militaire recipients paperwork with medals 27240 Sgt HW Dilkes

[bananamafia]

Hi everyone, im looking for a little help on this one, but let me first give a little background.

I go to local auction houses all the time on the hunt for interesting bits and bobs, whilst visiting a local house clearance auction last week I bought a big box of ephemera and photos etc...

I have found some lovelly and interesting documents relating to a decorated Leicester war hero, and I was wondering if anyone knows anyone, or has any ideas on how I can find who may have the corresponding medal group so that I can pass them on the documents to go with them?.

Any help would be greatly appreciated as these documents deserve to be with the medals and not lost for all time!!

27240 Sgt HW Dilkes 21st siege battery. Royal garrison artillery.

according to the paperwork:

This hero was awared the croix de guerre (from newspaper clipping of his death, not sure of the accuracy)
The Medaille Militaire (letter dated 7th June 1917)
MID twice (letter dated 9th april 1917 and newpaper clip)
Plus the obvious ww1 british entitlements.

[thorne83]

H W Dilkes was born in 1889/1890 and died in Leicester in 1973. There are 12 'Dilkes' still living in Leicester. If you really wanted, you could start phoning to see if any of them are related and whether they have any information? If his personal items are being sold at auction he may not have had any close family left though, but you never know!

Cheers, Tom

[bananamafia]

12 'Dilkes' still living in Leicester. If you really wanted, you could start phoning to see if any of them are related and whether they have any information? If his personal items are being sold at auction he may not have had any close family left though, but you never know!

Thnaks for the pointer Tom.
Well, after 9 phonecalls to very confused dilkes' My quest is over, I found that the medal group was sold 20 odd years ago. Shame, it would have been nice to pass the documents back to the owner, but Hey ho, at least I tried.

[Jerry B]

You could try posting on the british medal forum. A nice gesture trying to reunite the group.

[bananamafia]

You could try posting on the british medal forum. A nice gesture trying to reunite the group.

Will do now!
thanks Jerry,