TOPIC:

Frank Kelley wrote: "Armour" show! can one buy a tank then?

QSAMIKE wrote:

Frank Kelley wrote:
As a matter of fact would you like a Sherman or a couple of Bren Gun Carriers that I know are for sale....

Mike

Hi Mike,
There is nothing on the index card to suggest that the clasp and rosettes were issued, many were just never claimed and I would think very many have been added by collectors with the passage of time, I really would not worry about it, they have become more and more sort after, this reflects in the high prices now being paid for original examples.
Frank

I like the sound of a Sherman, but, it would need to be a Firefly! that wonderful 17 pdr gun rocks my boat!
Actually, any Sherman would be cool, I'm thinking Donald Sutherland and Kelly's Hero's now!

QSAMIKE wrote:

Frank Kelley wrote: "Armour" show! can one buy a tank then?

QSAMIKE wrote:

Frank Kelley wrote:
As a matter of fact would you like a Sherman or a couple of Bren Gun Carriers that I know are for sale....

Mike

Thank you gentlemen for talking so admirably of my grandfather and g-grandfather. These medals were theirs. At the present, I do not understand (and cannot fathom) the circumstances they came to be in Calgary but I know both he and my father would be rolling in their graves knowing they are not with who they were willed to. I've been in touch with Mike about the sale of them back to me.

I have spent a great deal of time over the past 20 years researching our genealogy and in particular the Parkyns and George, the father that Tom (HT Parkyn) did not know for very long as a child and was himself curious about. I think this is where I also inherited my curiosity. When I first contacted Mike, I actually thought I had sourced George's original Boer and WW1 medals until I came to understand he also had my grandfathers.

My grandfather had his father's medals re-issued in an attempt to have something of his dads. George died in 1921 leaving Tom and his brother orphans and my g-grandmother to a workhouse. Subsequently I found George's unmarked grave in Portsmouth with the help of the Portsmouth Records office in 1997. So I've always felt that the originals were out there out there somewhere. The ones Mike has are the re-issued.

While I have sourced a few 6DG regiment photos, we don't know what George looked like. I look to the art of Harry Payne who captured several of the 6DG troopers and scouts, of which Private G Parkyn was one, to imagine. It was upon trying to source more info (which seems to triple each year online) for a photo that I came across these medals.

But I knew Grampy Tom (d.1982) very well. He would have celebrated his 100th birthday last week I have all of his photo albums of his naval adventures which he started at the ripe age of 15.

This article explains his story. I thought I would share it so you can put a face to his medals.
I'm so grateful for sites and forums to help me connect the questions with answers. I didn't ever expect to consequently have more (much larger) questions.

Kind Regards,
Heather Parkyn Desveaux
BA, BJ
Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal Feb 2013
[email protected]