Sheer coincidence saw me reunited with Nottinghamshire ancestor's war medals

The medals have returned to the family after more than 100 years

When I recently shared news about a trip to Belgium to discover the final resting places of my Nottinghamshire WW1 ancestors, I thought it would achieve little more than getting heroic relatives some richly deserved attention. I never thought it would see the medals of one of those ancestors reunited with my family after more than 100 years.

Private Harry Pridmore, my great, great grand-uncle, died aged 39 on March 22, 1916. Buried at the Menin Road South Military Cemetery in Ypres, Harry had been part of a night working party on the evening of his death when a shell burst in the road that they were passing, killing him instantly.

A member of the 12th battalion of the Sherwood Foresters, Harry came from a very large family of at least 11 siblings and had been working at the Shireoaks Colliery before joining the frontline. Having only recently discovered Harry in the family tree, it felt wrong that such an important sacrifice had been seemingly forgotten by us for such a long time.

It was that sense that drove me, my father and brother to Ypres very recently. Back in the UK, the unfortunate death of a distant relative was taking place around the same time.

Kevin Cook, from Creswell, lost his Aunt Sue and he and his family were tasked with sorting through her belongings. Campaign medals were soon discovered with "Private H. Pridmore" inscribed on the side.

Eager to try and reunite the medals with the Pridmore family, Kevin searched the name on the medal online and happened to find my piece detailing the Belgium trip. Having arranged a collection from his home in Creswell, we were delighted to be able to have the medals back in the family last week.

Kevin's aunt had come into the possession of Harry Pridmore's medal as the granddaughter of Clara Pridmore, Harry's sister. Harry had been living with Clara and her husband Albert Fricker before heading out to war.

Many people coming into the possession of such items may be tempted to see how much they would be worth on the market, or to perhaps do nothing with them at all. Yet Kevin was kind enough to seek us out and deliver the medals back to their rightful place.

Harry is someone that I and generations before me never got the chance to meet. Yet as I now hold his medals, he has never felt so alive.