WW2 medals return to family after online appeal

A Cornish antique dealer has handed over a set of World War Two medals to the family of the man who earned them.

Kevin Bennetts from Wadebridge bought the set online and spotted the name JB Earl on the rim of one medal but had no idea where the mystery soldier came from.

When he put a post about the mystery set on a local Facebook page, a friend of the Earl family in St Austell got in touch.

David Earl, the son of the late Major James Burton Earl, said he was "touched" by the gesture to give the medals to him for free.

Major James Burton Earl served in the Territorial Army as a gunner based in Cornwall, he then served in Normandy after D-Day as the Allies pushed through France.

After the war, he worked for his wife Beryl's business, a fruit and vegetable wholesaler called Stephens and Pope in St Austell.

Medal dealer Mr Bennetts, 61, said he could have sold the medals for around £300 but decided to give them to the Earl family for nothing.

He said: "We shouldn't be making money out of them, they are his father's medals, he served and they belong to the family, so really money isn't an issue."

David Earl, 82, from St Austell, said: "I'm so very touched by this gesture... my father had some financial problems later in life and sold the medals, so to have them returned has really touched me."

Mr Bennetts bought the medals from a dealer in Wales.

He said: "Most service medals do not have a name but the set included a Territorial Efficiency Medal, they have a service number and a surname to help to identify the recipient."

He added: "It's really nice to repatriate these medals during David's lifetime but it's really rare to be able to find the family and return them."

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