Lost WWII medals for daughter who never met hero father

Helen Bradshaw from Fivemiletown was unaware her late father, Private Charles Briers, would have been awarded two medals for his service had he survived the fierce rearguard action that preceded the famous 1940 evacuation.

However, when an official from the local branch of the Royal British Legion (RBL) discovered the entitlement, he made representations on Mrs Bradshaw’s behalf and a pair of replica medals have now been acquired.

Mrs Bradshaw was still in her mother’s womb when news of her father’s death reached the family home in Ballynahinch, Co Down.

With so much confusion and chaos as the Germans advanced rapidly through France towards Dunkirk, the date of Pte Brier’s death is unknown – listed as having occurred sometime between May 15 and June 4, 1940.

The actions of Pte Brier and his Northamptonshire Regiment, along with thousands of other Allied troops, facilitated the safe passage to England of more than 300,000 British, French and Belgian soldiers.

Entries in the war diaries of the Northamptons’ indicates that Pte Brier was probably killed around the village of Maroeuil as they fought off a combined German Infantry and tank attack, suffering 352 casualties.

The story of the missing medals came to light when the Fivemiletown RBL chairman Iain Lendrum answered a call to help Mrs Bradshaw’s husband replace two service medals had been stolen many years ago.

William Bradshaw had served with the Royal Irish Rangers in the late 1960s and early 1970s – completing tours of duty in Cyprus and Northern Ireland.

Mr Lendrum said: “Helen never met her father and had no idea if he was due any medals for his service, so I proceeded to write a letter to Army Records in Glasgow enquiring about both William’s and his deceased father-in-law’s medals.

“After approximately four months they got back in touch with details of both sets of medals.”

Once the entitlement had been officially confirmed, Mr Lendrum said it wasn’t long before his RBL branch had the pleasure of presenting them to the local couple.

“We proceeded to purchase replicas of both sets of medals and we were delighted to receive them in March 2020. It gave me great pleasure to present both sets of medals in early April,” he said.

Mrs Bradshaw said her mother coped with the loss by rarely speaking about it.

“All I really heard growing up was that my father was killed in the war. That’s the way it was in those days,” she said.

“I’m so grateful to Iain for arranging his. The medals are now a treasured possession,” Mrs Bradshaw added.