Had a nice surprise today

Great find OP. :cool:

zenf said:
If that's the case, I agree that gives them greater significance but I still feel the real value of medals is what they stand for, and selling them wouldn't necessarily be disrespectful towards that.

As I said, I wouldn't sell anything like that myself but if I'd fought in a war and then a century later, my great grandchildren were having financial difficulties that could be solved by selling the medals, I'd like to think I'd encourage them to as their wellbeing would be more important to me. It depends on the circumstances imo.
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That's pretty much how I view it.
 
Sadly, don't know where my Great grandfathers service medals went, but he had quite a big gamily, but i do have some photos of him in the trenches.
I've got my Grandads WWII medals which I cherish and his service papers :)

One point. Don't clean them other than maybe a gentle wipe with a cloth. If they are anything like coins, if you were to sell them collectors usually prefer the 'patina'.
 
My uncle sold my grandads ww2 medals when he was in bad debt everyone resents him for it never sell them pass them down generation to generation maybe get a special display case made up with photos to keep a war heros memory alive
 
I can understand why some people sell them. Many of the WWII medals were given out for slight reasons, so some people felt like they were not 'earned'. Some people just wanted to forget the whole thing, too. Mrs Edrof's grandfather fought in Burma and never even applied for his medals.

Being years removed from the whole thing, we tend to cherish and revere things like medal groups, whereas those awarded the things in the first place have different feelings towards them.

I could never sell my grandfather's.
 
Edrof said:
I can understand why some people sell them. Many of the WWII medals were given out for slight reasons, so some people felt like they were not 'earned'. Some people just wanted to forget the whole thing, too. Mrs Edrof's grandfather fought in Burma and never even applied for his medals.

Being years removed from the whole thing, we tend to cherish and revere things like medal groups, whereas those awarded the things in the first place have different feelings towards them.

I could never sell my grandfather's.
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My Grandad never seemed interested in the war. Everytime I brought the subject up, he changed it quite quickly, and didn't seem to care about the whereabouts of his medals.

He was an extremely docile man. I think he hated it with a passion and just wanted to get as far away from the memories as possible. I know he saw his best mate Soapy blown up during the battle of the Atlantic.

Always felt like he wanted to keep the horrors of war as far away from his loved ones as possible and may have viewed the medals as somewhat obscene awards to celebrate killing.
 
Fantastic find. As others have said, never EVER sell them. They are a part of your family history and as such are priceless. Sticking them in a frame on your wall with a picture of your grandfather is a fantastic idea.
I have my grandfather's (father's side) WWII service medals and those of my step father including his RAF wings. I would never part with them. I may in fact take them and do what you're doing. Mount them on the wall in a frame with their pictures.
My grandfather from my mother's side was a conscientious objector which has been a subject of great shame for our family.
 
robfosters said:
My Grandad never seemed interested in the war. Everytime I brought the subject up, he changed it quite quickly, and didn't seem to care about the whereabouts of his medals.

He was an extremely docile man. I think he hated it with a passion and just wanted to get as far away from the memories as possible. I know he saw his best mate Soapy blown up during the battle of the Atlantic.

Always felt like he wanted to keep the horrors of war as far away from his loved ones as possible and may have viewed the medals as somewhat obscene awards to celebrate killing.
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Similar stuff to my wife's Gramps, Rob. He only ever talked about Burma and the War once, and I'm proud to say that that was to me. My grandfather's medals and trinkets have been cherished by us since I can remember, but his is a different story as he was killed in action fighting in Italy when my dad was only two years old.
 
My grandads medals are somewhere, we're pretty sure he never collected them. I sent a request to the medals office at Imjin barracks to enquire about them, but nothing has been found as of yet. Hopefully something will as they'd be a nice thing to have.

I do have some very personal stuff (to me) in my flat, that being all the toys he used to make for us to play with when we were younger, which is a nice thing to have.
 
They are amazing!! Great find.

I think my Granddad got a medal for his service in the coal mines during WW2, not sure though. Did miners get medals during the war? He was a Bevin Boy.

EDIT: Oh dear, just found out Jimmy Saville was a Bevin Boy, haha! - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1582809/Bevin-Boys-honoured-for-wartime-service.html

Looks like some of them did get medals eventually. Not many though.

EDIT: Just found out he can apply for one if he hasn't already: https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-bevin-boys-veterans-badge

I need to ask him.
 
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robfosters said:
My Grandad never seemed interested in the war. Everytime I brought the subject up, he changed it quite quickly, and didn't seem to care about the whereabouts of his medals.

He was an extremely docile man. I think he hated it with a passion and just wanted to get as far away from the memories as possible. I know he saw his best mate Soapy blown up during the battle of the Atlantic.

Always felt like he wanted to keep the horrors of war as far away from his loved ones as possible and may have viewed the medals as somewhat obscene awards to celebrate killing.
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That wouldn't surprise me. I'm glad you've found something by which to remember him by. :)
 
Fantastic find op! Glad they're going to be out in daylight again. Sadly my great grandfathers ww2 medals are lost :-(
 
Last year after some family tree work, my mum and grandmother found a medal belonging to a grandfather (I think). It was up for sale in the USA for some ridiculous amount & I don't think they could afford it at the time.

No idea how it came to be so far away.
 
Nice find! :cool: I'm almost 100% certain that I have those same medals from my great granddad.
 
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