General News
15 November, 2024
Medals filled with stories
You would be amazed at what stories and items people can have hidden in their homes.
Enter Maryborough resident Steve Greenwood who could hold the medals of four German, American and Australian Lieutenants.
Steve told The Advertiser that while volunteering at the Central Goldfields Visitor Information Centre, a local couple asked for his advice on selling inherited war medals.
According to Steve, the couple said some of the medals came from a German soldier during the First World War who survived being shot by his commander after disobeying an order to kill civilians who were hiding the enemy.
Steve said the soldier’s son was a Lieutenant in the German Coastal Artillery troop who was seriously injured after being blown out of a foxhole by an air raid before an American Lieutenant took him to a field hospital.
Steve stated he was told an Australian Chaplain witnessed the act of bravery and reported the American Lieutenant to headquarters for commendation.
Upon hearing the story, Steve decided to buy the medals from the couple, who the next day dropped off the medals as well as antique watches, including one the German Costal Artillery trooper had during the air raid, which smashed the glass and caused the clock to stop.
While according to Steve a few medals in the collection are copies of awarded medals, he said they provide historical importance in commemorating the bravery of all soldiers.
“These medals are the story of these four men whose life stories need to be told, all four of them did incredible deeds,” he said.
“I’ve debated giving them to our RSL or the Canberra War Museum so that they can go on and tell the story.”