The lost medals

The lost medals 

Like all serving members of the armed forces who participated in the Second World War after the conflict concluded Grandad would have been awarded a set of campaign medals and a general service medal.

I would love to say that the set pictured in this post were the originals , but alas they are not . 

The set in question was a gift from my brother for my 50th Birthday recently. His choice of this particular collection neatly follows Grandad’s campaign history with the inclusion of the African and Italian stars . 

As to the originals, what did happen to them ?  Well the story Grandad told was that when my father was a boy he left his medals in his care, only for them to be lost somewhere in the garden? I can not be too sure if this story is 100% accurate but my Grandparents place was blessed with a sizable back garden. This was a place I frequented for many happy hours as a child with several vegetable plots , small lawns , sheds and a small orchard .  If dad did discard them somewhere here they could have been easily lost? Who knows? Perhaps one day in the distant future someone will unearth them again? 

In the meantime I shall look after my replacement set and place them proudly in my lounge display cabinet . 

There is one question that still needs answering. When Grandad retold the story about his lost medals he said they included the Polish Star. This presents something of a mystery as a quick search on the internet can not shed light on any such medal being issued by the British Authorities?  Can anyone help to solve this part of his story?