A digger's World War II service medals that were left at Batemans Bay Post Office are to be reunited with his family after a saga which spanned the globe.
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The medals, including The Pacific Star and the 1939-45 medal, were left on the counter of the post office in early June.
The belonged to Thomas Vincent Dacey, service number N200111, who was born on August 3, 1918, in Murrumburrah, NSW, and passed away in 2000.
The story of the medals appeared on the Bay Post/Moruya Examiner website and Facebook page, and the Moruya-based not-for-profit organisation Medals Gone Missing began the task of tracking them down.
Medal’s Gone Missing’s Gary Traynor said Mr Dacey’s wife died in 1968, and that he remarried, and his second wife died in December 2014.
“His stepson went to Batemans Bay Post Office to send photos and the medals to Mr Dacey’s son, Thomas Dacey Jnr, in the Philippines, and the photos were sent, but not the medals,” he said.
“Meanwhile, Mr Dacey’s granddaughter Kim, in Canada, saw the story on the Bay Post/Moruya Examiner Facebook page and contacted Thomas Dacey Jnr, who then contacted his sister, who was visiting a daughter in America. She contacted an aunty in Sydney, Carol Smith, the daughter of Thomas Dacey (the veteran).
“She is coming down next week to collect the medals.”
