By Shelby Brooks
A man has been reunited with his grandfather’s war medal that he lost along on the Princes Highway in Tynong North on Anzac Day, Monday 25 April.
Andy Smith, of Boronia, was riding his motorcycle back from a Longwarry Vietnam Veterans Anzac Day dawn service when his grandfather’s medal flew off his jacket.
“It was approximately 8.20-8.30am when I heard a “PING” and realised the medal had come off my jacket and bounced down the road in the left hand lane at 80km/h,” Mr Smith told Star News.
“I was absolutely devastated. My anxiety levels were off the scale as you could appreciate.
“It’s only a small part of my family history but it means so much.”
Mr Smith believed the medal fell off somewhere between Gumbuya World and Tynong Road, on the Melbourne bound side of the Princes Highway.
“It was one of my grandfather’s service medals. He fought in Western Europe,” he said.
Mr Smith’s grandfather was Private Henry Smith, apparently he didn’t pass the medical examination in Australia so he travelled to New Zealand and signed up for the war there.
He served in Western Europe from late 1916 to 1918, Mr Smith said.
A Facebook post asking was shared over 600 times in 24 hours and was seen by Warragul detectorist Corey Lewis.
“My wife saw the post and said this is right up your alley,” Mr Lewis said.
In his spare time, Mr Lewis uses a metal detector to find hidden gems across the state.
“Myself and my mate had a spare hour and a half on Wednesday and thought we’d meet on the highway and walk the road,” Mr Lewis said.
Mr Lewis spotted the medal in the emergency service lane right where Mr Smith had identified he had lost it.
“We thought it was going to be a lot harder,” Mr Lewis said.
“But there it was, horse side up.”
Mr Smith was absolutely chuffed upon learning the medal had been found.
“I couldn’t thank Corey enough,” Mr Smith said.
“Things like this really restores my faith in humanity when complete strangers and everyday good people go out of their way to lend a hand and help.”
