Lost War Medals Returned After Facebook Post

The son of a World War Two veteran who lost his father's medals on Remembrance Sunday has had them returned after a huge response to a social media appeal.

Willie McMurdo has been to every Remembrance service at the Cenotaph in Whitehall bar two since 1971 - and always wears his dad's medals.

But on Sunday as the parade finished Willie realised the precious war mementos had vanished.

He said: "The ground just opened up, I didn't know what to do and I shouted at the top of my voice: I've lost my dad's medals, has anybody seen any medals?"

Willie frantically searched for an hour or so, even recruiting three Welsh soldiers to help in the mission - to no avail.

He described losing the medals as like losing his father all over again.

However, unbeknown to him, another ex-serviceman, former Petty Officer Cliff Palmer, was also in Whitehall for the parade and saw the medals lying on the ground.

"As soon as you see them your heart hits your throat, because you know having been a recipient what they mean to people," he said.

"I said to people yesterday: I will die trying to find the person these medals belong to."

But he didn't have to.

Cliff took a picture of the medals and posted it on Facebook, and over the next few hours social media with the help of Lostbox.co.uk took the story of the lost medals to heart and pushed it around the world.

Some 24 hours later Cliff had found Willie and on Monday afternoon a man and his medals were re-united.

The pair met at Paddington Railway Station - Cliff returning all the way from his home in Bristol - before heading back to the Cenotaph.

Cliff said: "We both nearly broke down, it was quite an emotional sort of thing.

"I handed them straight over and asked him to keep them safe."

The medals had been hard won by Willie's father, Tam, who served in Africa and Italy during World War Two and was mentioned in dispatches by Field Marshall Montgomery after he rescued 24 of his brothers-in-arms from a minefield.

His medals will be back at the Cenotaph in the morning for Armistice Day and Willie promises he will not lose them again.