A happy ending, but perhaps a warning for choosing to donate precious artefacts to your local museum. Or am I being too harsh? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-30802982
Hi canuck, I think you are right, but it does seem incredible that something so precious as this group of medals, depicting a soldiers story, can be lost for so long. I think I have mentioned on here before, that several families of Burma campaign veterans have told me that their WW2 artefacts rest with museums, but when I have visited the establishment these items cannot be found, even though they exist on their inventory.
The snag with museums is that they all have more items than they have room to display. In the past the records of what was kept may not have been very accurate. Items that did not seem particularly important when donated were not given pride of place. Modern standards for keeping items include proper cataloging and controls for temperature and humidity levels. Not all local museums can reach the ideal standards. I have been told that the Redoubt in Eastbourne is damp- it is on the seafront- and was built as a fort originally. Museums often have a storage facility away from the public areas and they will give interested researchers access to these subject to the usual identity checks and advance notice. It might be better to donate an item than risk it being disposed of at a future date by a disinterested descendent.
