Medal mystery still unsolved
By NICHOLAS BOYACK
HUTT NEWS | Tuesday, 16 December 2014
Medal haul: Alisa Groves is delighted that a World War I medal awarded to her father has been found in Wainuiomata.
Mystery surrounds the movements of a World War I medal which was recently returned to the daughter of its recipient.
The medal belonged to Allan Wallace who served in World War I with the Auckland Battalion.
After the war he received the British War Medal. Records show the medal was issued a couple of times to him but it is not clear if he actually received it as he changed addresses frequently.
After the war he lived in Lower Hutt and set up a contracting business but faced numerous legal issues and was adjudged bankrupt. He served in the Home Service in World War II before settling in Naenae where he died in 1957.
Wallace never lived in Wainuiomata but his son Bruce Wallace and daughter Alisa Groves did. Neither lived at the house the medal was later found at.
In 1957, Wallace appears to have been issued with a complete set of service medals, including one for World War I.
In September [16 September 2014 issue], Hutt News published an article about an exhibition at the Wainuiomata Museum on locals who fought in World War I. That prompted Tania Joseph to come forward with a medal that had been found by her daughter, Samantha, in their garage.
The museum's researcher, Dawn Chambers, set about tracing its history and tracked down Groves. She has no idea of how the medal came to be in Wainuiomata and is also puzzled by the fact that it duplicated a medal her [Alisa's] father already had.
By George: Dawn Chambers, left, has done an enormous amount of research on Allan Wallace whose British War Medal was found by Samantha George in a Wainuiomata garage.
The medal found in Wainuiomata appears to be the original as it shows signs of being worn.
The 85-year-old is "very pleased" the original medal has been found and says it is nice to have a memento from her father, who is buried in the Taita Servicemen's Cemetery.
In just a few months, Chambers has done a remarkable amount of research on Wallace and his family.
It does not, however, answer the question as to how the medal came to be found in a garage with no connection to Allan Wallace.
All she can say is that it is anybody's guess and it will probably always remain a mystery.
