Second World War veteran Ronald William GIBBINS has lost his war service medals. Can you help him?
IMAGE RIGHT: NX173585 Gunner Ronald William GIBBINS with a replacement set of medals. He served in the AMF (Australian Military Forces) before joining the AIF and his Milita number was N453913. Whilst he is pleased to have a replica set of medals, they are nowhere near as dear to him as the original set which are engraved with his name and Regimental Service Number. MEDALS GONE MISSING will offer a reward to the person who has found these medals and returns them to our office or personally to Ron. Please contact us on 0449 692401
The following narrative is an extract from the Newcastle Star which was published in July of 2009. As the missing war medals are still out there somewhere, assistance has been sought from MEDALS GONE MISSING and the story is reproduced here with the kind permission of the Newcastle Star:-
WWII veteran asks for help
MARTIN DINNEEN
15 Jul, 2009 05:00 AM
Adamstown Heights World War Two veteran loses medals and asks community for help to find them. . .
While he will never lose his sense of pride over his role in the Pacific in World War II, Ron Gibbins has lost the four medals he was awarded for his service to the nation.
Mr Gibbins lost his medals after attending the annual celebration of Army Reserve Day on Saturday July 4 at Fort Scratchley in his role as honorary chaplain for Royal Australian Artillery Hunter Division.
The 84 year old, who fought as a gunner in the landing at Tarakan in Borneo in 1945, put the medals in his jacket pocket and boarded the 350 bus bound for Belmont but when he got off realised they were gone.
“The medals must have fallen out of the inside pocket,” he said.
Mr Gibbins waited for the bus on its return route but it was not the same vehicle he had caught earlier and, despite contacting Newcastle Buses lost and found, he was unable to recover his medals.
“The driver of that bus was incredibly kind and helpful,” Mr Gibbins said.
The medals, a 1939-45 Star, Pacific Star, War Medal 1939-45 and the Australian Service Medal are mounted on a plastic pocket insert and hold great value for Mr Gibbins, reminding him of those lost.
“They are a reminder to me of the price other people paid in the war,” he said.
“We were fighting for the release of the prisoners the Japanese were keeping captive there.”
Mr Gibbins, who marches in the Anzac Day parade every year, said he would find the difference quite noticeable if he was forced to march without them next year.
“I would feel like a bloke without shoes on,” he said.
Mr Gibbins’s Pacific Star has his name inscribed on it and he is asking anyone who finds the medals to hand them to police.
If you have these medals and would like to return them to Ron, please contact the Medals Gone Missing Administrator by emailing:- customerservice@medalsgonemissing.com or telephone 0449 692401.
