Pingat Jasa Malaysia Medal debate
The controversy continues
A family history
Another Cardew lost in World War I
Saved from the slaughter by tonsillitis
A fortuitous sickness
"The Flying Coppers"
An airborne peace-keeping force
A true hero
A motoring soldier and entrepreneur
Worn with pride
Lapel badges of World War I
A stained glass window and a missing medal
An unusual memorial to an Isandhlwana soldier
Regular Features:
THE EDITORIAL PAGE 5
NEWS AND VIEWS 6
MARKET SCENE 11
BOOKSHELF 39
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 40
ON PARADE 42
DEALERS' LISTS 43
MEDAL TRACKER 45
CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING 49
DIARY 53
EDITORIAL
The Flying Coppers
A "dim" view...
The Ottawa Citizen of November 24, 2006 carried an interesting article on the medals of two brothers, both World War I casualties, that had appeared on eBay in Canada. It was interesting not so much because of the story of the brothers themselves, which was a tale of a family torn apart, sadly all too familiar to anyone who collects medals, but rather because it gave a particular Canadian MP a chance to voice his rather strong views on the subject of medal collecting and collectors. According to the Citizen, the MP, one Peter Stoffer, MP for Sackville-Eastern Shore, has long campaigned to outlaw the sale of military medals saying that he is “disgusted” by collectors, or even family members “profiting” from the sale of medals. He has, it seems, introduced a private members bill to outlaw the sale of medals and, whilst it has been stuck at the first reading for years and there is little hope of it ever being passed into law, it does highlight the staggering ignorance of some people when it comes to our hobby.
He believes that nobody should financially profit from the “valour of others”, stating that “we have already profited from their sacrifices”. He apparently doesn’t mind if a veteran wishes to give away his medals, doesn’t mind if we collect them should they have been gifts but apparently (again according to the Citizen) “the minute you sell them, as far as I’m concerned, you’re scum of the earth”. So there you have it everyone—any of you who have ever sold a medal to help fund another purchase are, apparently, “scum”; any dealer you’ve ever bought from is “scum”; any member of a family selling off a long gone ancestor’s medal is “scum” We don’t rate very highly in Mr Stoffer’s opinion it seems. Nice to see a balanced view isn’t it?
Needless to say once this story came to our attention via the Internet group, the British Medal Forum, we felt we simply couldn’t let it lie and emailed Mr Stoffer. We politely pointed out that far from being “scum”, medal collectors cared passionately about their hobby, were responsible for caring for medals and keeping the memory of the recipient alive. We pointed out that often medal recipients’ families are long gone, or those that remain often simply aren’t interested in
