I would like to return this CD to the recipient if anybody out there knows of it's whereabouts. He gave it to a young relative who immediately sold it. He was a post war army fellow so no great collectors value but I would dearly like to buy it and return it to him as a gift.

Thanks if you can help.

Bob

Hi Robert,

This is a very kind gesture on your part...., but,....

Mr Kretchmar gave the medal away - this indicates that it had little interest to him - certainly at the time.

The young relative sold it - this indicates that the recipient had little interest in it.

You are free to spend your money any way you wish and you are free to make a gift of the medal to anyone you want but I wonder if this is best use of your resources. The medal is not reported stolen and is now freely, and without encumbrance, in the collector's domain. Some collector will buy this and it will add to the greater knowledge and wisdom of the collector community. From a quick look at the British Medal Forum http://www.britishmedalforum.com) you will see that medal collectors honour recipients through the thorough research of their lives, their military service and, sometimes, their ultimate sacrifice.

Rather than return this, at your expense, to an environment where there is little interest in the medal, let it stay in the wider collector community where it will be better respected.

Clive

The fact that the original owner gave this medal to a young relative in no way reflects that he "had little interest" in it. There are too many unknowns (age, health etc) to assume this. Perhaps he felt it was a special gesture to gift it to the young relative. That the person who received it, sold it, is sad but those that see no special meaning in these items feed our hobby and put these items in the hands of people who do care.

I'm getting a number of requests via email on how to track down families, for the return of "routine" items such as death tokens, service awards, etc. I can't predict the value of these items to the families any more than anyone else, but you raise a good point about weighing all one's options about assuming financial risks in doing so, not to mention questions of privacy, etc. For some people, military service incurred painful memories and medals, etc., were unwelcome reminders to be discarded.

Certainly there are many stories of happy reunions of veterans, families, etc., and military artifacts in the news; but as Clive points out, not all stories may end the same.

Mr. Kretchmar did value his medal. He gave it to somebody as a kind gesture and deeply regretted doing so later. I would simply like the opportunity to return it to him if possible.

Bob.

Bob,

From the original header I understood that you already owned the CD and was looking for Mr Kretchmar in order to return it. I now understand that you are looking FOR the medal on behalf of Mr Kretchmar.

It would be a good idea to post your search on the British Medal Forum.

Good luck.
Clive

Sorry to have created that misunderstanding Clive. I should have made that more clear.

Regards,

Bob.