Thanks FB - of course you are right; they can be replaced but as others have said, they are not the originals. The value factor may clearly be important in the long term, but it is the personal heritage which is the driving factor today.
On the subject of stolen medals:
Some years ago now, whilst on IX Sqn at Leeming and living in a flat in Ripon (I know a few of you enjoyed a beer or 6 there) - I had a late night gathering after the pub. This was a fairly normal occurrence back in the day.
There must have been 20 or so friends, friends of friends (all RAF), wives & girlfriends milling about.
My own meagre collection of a medal from GW1 always sat in my bedroom in a misplaced mess dessert bowl - the ones with the gold rim (still have it actually).
Late the next day, I found an envelope on my doormat with said medal enclosed along with a note saying "sorry I took this - it seemed a good idea at the time". I hadn't even noticed it had gone, nor would I have until many months later when it was required for a No 1 type occasion.
I didn't take it any further, nor ever found out who the miscreant was (I am told that my GW1 medal is fairly valuable) & never really thought about the incident again until now. Funny old world isn't it.
& many thanks to you Baffman - any help with Belgian media at all is truly appreciated.