Lilydale police officer reunites family with WWI medal lost on Melbourne beach in 1925

A police officer with a special spot for Australia’s servicemen and women has helped return a war medal lost on a Melbourne beach nearly 100 years ago.

Lilydale police Sgt Vaughan Atherton helped track down the descendants of a WWI medal lost for nearly 100 years. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

A World War I medal lost nearly 100 years ago has been returned to its family just in time for Anzac Day.

Lilydale police sergeant Vaughan Atherton tracked down the relatives of Private Robert Stanley Gordon Smith after his British Victory medal was first lost on Chelsea beach in 1925.

Private Smith served in the Australian Imperial Force 5th Battalion and died in 1963.

His medal was found by a man on Beaumaris beach in 1980 and remained with his wife after the man passed away.

The woman and her new partner met Sgt Atherton through the Upwey-Belgrave RSL sub-branch, of which they are all members, and asked for some assistance to help find any living family members.

Sgt Atherton researched Private Smith’s family history through the national archives, and was able to track down one of his nephews, Alan Norster, and return the medal.

Mr Norster plans to pass the medal onto a direct descendant if one is found, otherwise it will be put on permanent display at the sub-branch’s museum on Mast Gully Rd in Upwey.

He said he was sure Private Smith’s medal would “be treasured by all present and future RSL members”.

Sgt Atherton, who also recently returned WWII medals to another family, said he found great pleasure in returning treasured war items to their rightful owners.

“They are irreplaceable and are normally handed down through families as a reminder of the sacrifices and service made by our earlier generations,” he said.

“When you can return that property to a family, its pretty special, because they only make one original set of medals.”

“There are so many medals out there that are probably not with the family, and so to be able to make that connection and have it at least identified and passed down is a really good thing.”

Upwey-Belgrave RSL sub-branch president Anthony Stewart said the medal would be a prized addition to its museum, which has more than 4500 items.

“We have a lot of members who put in countless hours of researching, and how they have been able to identify this person and track down descendants is a perfect example of how our community and our club comes together,” he said.