TOPIC:

I came across this interesting story and thought it worth adding here.

Thomas George Harrison was a Gloucestershire man at the time of the ABW - Selsey, near Stroud - but settled in Lichfield, Staffordshire, after being stationed at the nearby Whittington Barracks post-war. He had been awarded the QSA and KSA.

"It is interesting to note that, after being presented with his two South African campaign medals, Mr. Harrison lost them in Lichfield. He was stationed at Whittington Barracks at the time of the loss, and despite an intensive search, was unable to recover them. Forty-five years later, in 1946, his King's Medal, awarded for service in South Africa, was returned to him, it having been picked up in Bore Street by a small boy after the annual Remembrance Day parade service in the Cathedral, which had been attended by many war veterans. The deceased, naturally pleased at recovering his medal after so many years, was, nevertheless, disturbed at the thought that someone was still in possession of his Queen's Medal, of which he was rightly proud, and which was inscribed with his regimental number, rank and name."
Lichfield Mercury, Friday 24th October 1947

Thomas Harrison died in Lichfield on the 12th of October 1947, aged 69. He was survived by his widow, five sons and five daughters.

The medals must have been stolen by someone at the barracks who hadn't served in South Africa, and who was living in the Lichfield area in the 1940s. If the KSA is still in the possession of the Harrison family, they may not be aware of the missing QSA.

I think that it is not unreasonable to assume the medals were indeed stolen, it certainly would not be at all unusual, it happened then and sadly, it still happens today, but, I would not just assume they were stolen by a soldier who not served in South Africa, I suspect his immediate family would have certainly been aware of the missing medal, but, generations down the line, who knows?

Frank Kelley wrote: I think that it is not unreasonable to assume the medals were indeed stolen, it certainly would not be at all unusual, it happened then and sadly, it still happens today, but, I would not just assume they were stolen by a soldier who not served in South Africa, I suspect his immediate family would have certainly been aware of the missing medal, but, generations down the line, who knows?

Could have been a servant who stole them, perhaps.

Well, who knows, I am a little surprised that he did not seek to have them replaced if they had meant so much to him as the newspaper would have us believe, nothing in WO100/181 or WO100/327 to suggest that he did seek replacements.
Harrison was originally a Groom when he joined the Nanny Goats upon the 12th of May 1898 at their Depot in Wrexham, a good soldier, he was soon a Sergeant, but, reduced after being tried and convicted for some offence, notwithstanding, he achieved the rank of Corporal again before Christmas 1903 and his transfer to the Reserve in 1905.
Interestingly, he married in Lichfield the same year and went on to have his first two children quite swiftly.