Heir hunters trace hero’s family after World War One medal find

The Victory medal was discovered near the Maritime Museum at Liverpool’s Albert Dock on June 6, 2016 – the 70th anniversary celebrations of the D-Day landings.

It is likely that someone had it at the Liverpool celebrations and dropped it. It was handed into the police station by a member of the public.

Emily Murphy of Merseyside Police discovered the campaign medal was originally awarded to a Francis Mitchell, who was born in Bradford in 1888.

However, her research hit a brick wall. She contacted probate genealogists and stars of the BBC’s Heir Hunters series, Finders International, to take up the search for any next of kin.

Daniel Curran of Finders International said: “It’s not every day that we get a request from the police and we were keen to help solve this mystery and return the medal to its rightful guardian.”

Within a few days Finders International had established that Francis had been a member of the Lancashire Fusiliers.

Source material: TheYorkshirePost

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