iscover
The family of a New Zealand WWII aviator has had his lost service medals returned by a RAAF chaplain.
Chaplain Haydn Lea found the medals last year in a Perth military memorabilia shop and noticed that they were missing a Royal Air Force Bomber Command clasp, which were awarded decades after the war to those who served in Bomber Command.
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“By the time the clasp was introduced, a lot had been killed in the war or had died afterwards and many missed out,” Chaplain Lea said.
“The first thing that I noticed was his medals were missing that particular award. Part of my motivation in trying to get them was to correct that.”
The medals had belonged to Sergeant William “Billy” O’Shea, who was killed in action in a raid on Hamburg as part of the 75 (NZ) Squadron.
They were presented to his wife Ann, who kept them until she died in the 1990s, and following the death of her cousin the medals were lost to the O’Shea family until Lea discovered them in 2024.
After purchasing several of Sergeant O’Shea’s medals, namely the 1939-1945 campaign medal, France and Germany Star, two Commonwealth medals and the New Zealand Memorial Cross, Lea reached out to New Zealand honours and awards, who connected him with Karen Curtis (née O’Shea), the sergeant’s great-niece.
“I let them know I had the medals and was trying to get the missing clasp awarded and I would send them over once it was all done,” he said.
The medals have been cleaned and mounted, and Curtis said she is glad to have them hanging in her home.
“I could never have imagined this would be the way that Billy’s story played out, but it has had such a lovely ending for the family,” Curtis said.
“We so dearly wanted to bring those medals home. It made our year. Of all the hands the medals could have fallen into, they landed in the safe hands of someone who truly cares about sacrifice, service and family.
“Billy would be so happy that they were treated with the respect they deserve. I feel like he has been watching over us and steering us towards this outcome.”
