At least we have both our ancestors’ hard-earned medals from WW2
And you can still get them!
I recently applied for and got my late father's Defence Medal. He was just getting a business going again in 1939, having lost his first business through bad debts (owed to him) in the 1930s; so he volunteered for the AFS (Auxilliary Fire Service) on 3rd September 1939!
The business kept going, but as a proud East Ender, he was a fireman in London throughout the Blitz and the rest of the War. Probably not the (relatively) quiet war he hoped for. Family anecdote has it that when they dished out the medals the conversation went thus:
Teeters Snr: "Who gets these medals then?"
Senior Chap: "Well, everyone gets one"
Teeters Snr: "Not worth having then is it?"
Pop, I venture to disagree. So after much research and a (surprisingly) small amount of paperwork, the medal and a certificate arrived last month from the Cabinet Office, a mere 76 years after the end of the War and 49 years after Pop "departed the fix". I look forward to wearing it on the right next Remembrance Day, (probably at least as well earned as the ones on the left!).
Apologies for thread drift, but the mention of WW2 medals struck a very important chord with me. And dust in the eyes again............