About 20 years ago my Nan’s house in Church Lane, Melksham, was broken in to and several items where stolen. One of the things taken were my late grandfather’s two medals for his service in the First World War. They were the standard British War Medal and the Victory Medal, so nothing of great financial value. No-one was ever arrested for the burglary and none of the items taken were ever recovered.

With the centenary of the war now approaching, everyone’s thoughts occasionally turn to the war heroes and the sacrifices that were made by so many. My grandfather George Nelson was fortunate to survive the trenches despite being badly wounded on three separate occasions in Ypres and the Somme. He was also gassed once.

Sadly my grandfather passed away when I was only two so I have no memories of him myself, only a few pictures and stories passed on by my nan Evelyn, who was known to all as May Nelson and my parents.

My grandfather was Australian and volunteered to join the Australian Imperial Force in 1916 just after his 21st birthday. He arrived on the frozen Somme front line two days before Christmas in 1916. Wednesday will be the 97th anniversary of when he was first injured while his battalion attacked (and captured) a small hamlet called Louverval, which is now the home of the Cambrai War Memorial and Louverval military cemetery.

I would like to appeal to whoever was responsible for the theft’s conscience and for them to pass on any information about what happened to his medals.

I am not interested in them being brought to justice, just anything that may help me trace the whereabouts of the two medals so that I can maybe one day recover them and pass them on to my own children at some point in the future, so that they in turn will never forget what all of our grandfathers did for our country.

Phil Dix, 22 Hardenhuish Avenue, Chippenham, SN15 1NW.

pdix@teninfrench.com