31 August 2013

Duncan Lawson

Since 2006 I've had a Tobruk Siege commemorative medal which was sent to me by the Queensland RSL. This medal was produced by the Rats of Tobruk Association to acknowledge the part they played in the slowing down of Rommel's forces and the eventual defeat of the Axis forces in North Africa. Many WWII medal groups include this commemorative medal although it is not an official medal.
The Tobruk Siege commemorative medal I received has the name D Lawson on the back. There is no service number so I could never be 100% sure which D Lawson I was looking for. Today, I received an email which put all the pieces in place.
The email came from the great niece of QX6996 Duncan Allan Lawson whose name is Bec. She came across our listing of lost medals on the Lost Medals Australia website. Bec tells me that all Duncan's medals were lost to the family in Queensland where this medal came from. A review of the WWII nominal roll showed that I could eliminate many potential candidates by this initial and name combination due to their enlistment date or other factors. This narrowed the search down to two soldiers and it was Duncan's unit that confirmed for me that we had the right man. I'll forward the medal to Bec in the near future.
The returned medal tally is now 1310.


2 comments:

  1. Well done ...

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  2. I will never be able to ever thank you enough for finding and looking after my Uncle Dunk's medal. I may never find his other medals that were taken, but at least this little part of him will be coming home. You have truly restored my faith that there are good people out there doing what's right. Thank you from me, my family and my Uncle Dunk's memory.

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