Hello Mate,
I found these medals back in early January 2006 at the local council tip when I took the old Christmas tree and accumulated festive rubbish there to dump. It was pouring with rain, and as I chucked stuff in one of the skips I saw an old sports bag with a watch chain hanging out of it.
Needless to say, I reached in and pulled the bag out. There was random bits in it that were just rubbish, but on the end of the chain was a War Department issue pocket watch and the medals complete with the box. I had them away.
Everything was absolutely soaked through, and as I dried everything out, the tray of the box just disintegrated, but I was left with the lid, the watch(not working) and chain (not period, it's stamped BR for British Rail), the medals and a couple of spare unused ribbons.
The address on the boxlid was only about a mile from my work, just off the same main road, so I had a drive up. The house was a nice 1920's semi in a quiet road. I asked an old chap who was living near by if he knew the fellow the medals belonged to. He said he'd didn't really, but he lived alone and he'd died back in the early 90's and the house was now owned by an Indian family, and somone else had been there before them.
I was a little upset that the medals had been skipped, but who knows how they got there and where had they been for well over a decade? I always said i'd never sell them, and I haven't, they've just sat in a drawer since then. When I saw Cam was looking at getting a Territorial medal, I just thought he might like them. Plus I know he's interested in geneology, and thought it would be a nice grouping to investigate further, so I gave them to him.
The Argyll's are a good regiment to research, they saw a lot of action, I think the chap may have joined up as a regular before the war and possibly been in the 1st Battalion, judging by the medals he received.
I just thought it was better that they went to someone who may enjoy researching their history and that of Cpl.Hodgson, rather than lying in a drawer, so that's that.
The watch is now working after a service, and I kept that!
Regards, Ned
Bookmarks