Genealogy Chat

Ian, We are going to have to agree to differ on this. I am, I suspect, much older than you and I have seen attitudes about many things change radically in my lifetime. As Christopher so rightly says, whatever the moral rights and wrongs of the (two) Wars, both were badly managed and things have emerged since then which prove it. There ARE whole generations who simply do not care or know, or if they do, have a cynical attitude towards what happened. 'Ordinary' men were conned into going to War, whipped up by a patriotic frenzy. Many men went reluctantly, but unable to object to going, for fear of being branded a coward etc. It does not come naturally to EVERY man to want to kill another man. Today's generation is not so easily fooled - take the recent War in Iraq, a shambles that was none of our business. I heard more voices of protest over that than I ever heard of supporters. As for keeping coal in the bath - well, Ian, until I was 15 we didnt HAVE a bathroom, in common with everyone else who lived in our street. I still attend Remembrance Day Services, wearing my late father's medals. I do it for him and out of respect and deep gratitude to the men who had their lives cut short, whether they wanted it or not. Marjorie

Christopher I dont give two tosses about the royal family(they were well out of harms reach) and it is the point that the war against facism was a well received war.

Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion as regards 'the price of medals or any other piece of 'personal family history belongings'in the end to each their own,and if something holds no emotional involment then to sell such articals means nothing,,, I suppose its all down to sentiment;;

So Christopher, the war against facism was wrong.

Marjorie, I dont know where your coming from but to suggest that generations coming after did not care, I think is totally untrue.

Christopher did they also throw away war medals?.

Ian I am saying that the generations who came after, did not care. And don't forget, lots of people die without any surviving family or only a distant relative, who's only interest is to 'get rid of the junk' - or the 'Council' come in and do it for them. I have very little belonging to my Grandparents, my Gran had a big bonfire and burnt the family secrets. If you think people still care you should have seen a news broadcast last Poppy Day. A man in his forties was interviewed in the street and said 'I mean, really, how long do we have to go on being grateful?' I was talking about the first world war, which from my reading, achieved nothing at all, not one foot of land was gained by either side, at the expense of untold human misery and suffering. It was a War started by old men, who sent young men to fight it. WW2, of course, was a different kettle of fish. Our Government rewarded these brave men by giving them prefabs to live in, when they came home. Not everyone shares our interest in our family history. Most people think we are mad, living in the past, rather than looking to the future and who knows, maybe they are right. Marjorie

Christopher, I do understand that, (but they are in my Belief a tiny minority) but to suggest that this was a common happening beggars belief and furthermore is Patronising I suppose that they also believe that we keep coal in the bath.

Marjorie, Do you really believe that people threw away war medals and that they did'nt care.

Ian I mean people who threw them away in the dustbin, along with photos, birth certs, valuable jewellery, knick-knacks etc. They either did not realise the value (emotional and monetary) or didn't care. My late father was astonished when I told him that a ring I had found in my Mother's pocket was an extremely valuable one. He argued with me that it was worthless and in fact, did not trust my professional expertise and went to a 'real' jeweller, who confirmed my statement. My father then announced that he was going to sell it and split the money between us. In order to prevent this ring going out of my family for ever, I bought it off him! I can assure you that I would never part with it as I knew from my mother, that it belonged to my 2 X Gt Grandmother and quite frankly, I would have felt the same about it even if it had been made of brass and glass. My father did not feel the same, obviously, to him it represented money and nothing else. If you doubt that people throw such things away, I suggest you visit your local Council Tip. People vie with each other to get 'Scavenging Rights' to these places and make a very good living out of the very stuff I have mentioned - its not all black and white tellies and cocktail cabinets, you know. Marjorie

Marjorie, Sentiments with reality, if you don't think that we were right to declare war against a fascist aggresor, and therefore guarantee freedom that we have today, I think you are wrong of course they did'nt have the choice, but if you could ask them now I think they chose the right course. Thank God.

Marjorie, I dont know anybody who threw medals away as worthless rubbish what exactly do you mean.

Ian I resent the inference that I am prepared to profit from other people's misery - I am not. For your information, the family to whom I returned the newspaper cuttings and letters tried several times to offer me money - I refused as the stuff only cost me a few pounds. They then said 'But you have to make a living'. Again I refused any money and they sent me the biggest bouquet of flowers that anyone has ever seen. I emphasise that the stuff only cost me a few pounds. Had we been talking hundreds or thousands of pounds, it would have been a different matter, I would have had to recoup my outlay. My own Grandfather sent back his medals after the war as a protest at the way the country had treated its returned heroes. His Uncle, also decorated in WW1, had returned as a nervous wreck and spent the following 47 years in an Asylum, leaving his wife and five children to fend for themselves. The Government, which after all, sent these men to war, did absolutely nothing to help either him or his family. It fell to my Grandfather, himself a young man with a young family, to help her financially, although she also went out to work - cleaning and scrubbing. Don't let us mix sentiment with reality - I salute those 'ordinary' men who fought so well in a war that was not of their choosing - but a medal is after all, only a bit of metal, issued by cynical governments down the ages, to ensure that every one remains het up and willing to make 'Glorious Sacrifices'. I have my father's WW2 service medals and they are priceless to me - but I doubt if my children feel the same way about them. When I am gone, I would rather that they were sold, to someone who will appreciate just what they mean, than thrown away like so much worthless rubbish. Marjorie

I think it is obscene that people are paying large sums of money for medals awarded to people that they are not related to. They were awarded to special people for brave things that they did, not as some sort of currency. It is a bit like people paying huge amounts to become the 'Lord of the Manor' when they are not entitled to it.

hi everyone,seems i missed a good night,well i had a even better night meeting a relation from canada,a old army man of 86 years, i thank you all for your input,some of you lost the plot, but i am just trying to let familys know about the medals, AND I WOULD NOT PAY £1,200,00 FOR EVEN MY GRAND FATHERS MEDALS IF THAT WAS THE VALUE OF THEM. THATS ME, I WILL CARRY ON LETTING MEMBERS OF THIS SITE KNOW MEDALS ARE ON EBAY,ITS UP TO THE FAMILYS IF THEY WISH TO BUY, REGARDS TONY

I do agree that Medals should be cherished and kept by family, but the fact is that some people just don't care about such things - family means nothing to some, and so these sort of things get sold. The dealers on Ebay have purchased these medals from ligitimate sources, I am sure, and so the medals belong to them and they have the right to sell them for whatever they can get. I would't personally do such a thing, but Family and Family History are important to me. I'm just saying that I don't blame the dealers for trying to make a living. Kaye

I have a full set of WW1 medals ,that came by way of an auction buy,in with other items ;and have tried desperatly to find on this site any family members to who they may belong , so they can be returned to 'family'(no profit)but have had no luck so far,but I will stay 'guardian'of them till I do,and would never sell them on:

Hi folks, What a fascinating thread - thanks for starting it Tony and thanks to others for posting. Tony has been doing a lot of hard work extracting names from the eBay lists of medals for sale and adding them to this site, so that people interested in their family history might see them. I've helped when I can. I am fairly neutral in regard of the debate in this thread, so I can print what I think: Personally I try to take a pragmatic and sanguine view on the sale of these medals (except in cases of theft or deception). It's a pity if medals are no longer in the possession of the family, but on the other hand it's a delight to see and support Tony's efforts to reunite the medals and the (descendants) families. It is a frustration if the relatives then can't afford to buy them back, but, well: that's life. In one of two cases of success in finding relatives the dealers seem to have been remarkably scrupulous - e.g. selling the family the medal for a fair price and not inflating the price because of the sentimental value. Many of the sellers on eBay don't seem to realise that if they publicise the name (and as much further information about the person awarded the medal as they can) then they are probably more likely to get a better price - because that may well attract relatives. I suspect the dealers are a mixed blessing - their interest may well bring such medals to light, but then their profit margins may increase prices. C'est La Vie - and there are a lot worse legal ways to make money (I'm resisting all temptation to add a list here!). There are just one or two sellers on eBay who have seemed to be selling their relatives' medals (or at least claim to be) - and some of those are fairly modest WWI campaign medals which do not fetch much. That does surprise me - I was almost tempted to buy one cheap one and send it back to the seller (great nephew of the person it was awarded to) and suggest that they keep it - but they'd probably only sell it again! There is the odd case now and again (the sort reported in the Daily Mail end of the press) of poor widows having to sell their husbands' gallantry medals, but I suspect that is very rare, and may even be a bit of a publicity stunt in some cases? Like some of the kind people here if I find a family history item I try to reunite it with the family. And so back to the original start of the thread: well if I had an ancestor of high rank who had won a gallantry medal I'd certainly try to find whatever money I reasonably could to buy it back; but if I couldn't afford it I wouldn't hold a grudge. Kind regards to all, Stephen

I totally agree with Gary. If my great uncles WW1 medals were ever up for sale I would do ANYTHING to be able to buy them.....Janine

i still believe it the world we live in that is sad... it IS a suply and demand world. If just one person is prepared to pay that amount of money for the medals then the dealer would be foolish to not accept the highest bidder. On the other hand, Not only have i applied for my nans medal ( and framed them)BUT..... my sister and I have nicked our granddads medals, Nan has given us her blessing to do this LOL..... Why did we have to resort to such measures?????? simply becasue we have a money grabbing aunt, who whilst wants nothing to do with her Mum, will be round like a shot when Nan goes. And anything of value will be soon gone. We 'nicked' them to preserve them. we did think about doing it properly, but for certain reasons was unable to. To her they are worthless, to us priceless. She would have sold them, despite the fact they are medals her own father earnt. She has proved this in the past.