Jocelyn Trent says reunited WW1 medals ‘ray of sunshine’

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Peter Thorpe came across the medal when he was trying to build a greenhouse in his garden and needed to move soil to do so. He is now hoping that the relatives of the soldier will come forward, so that the heirloom can be in the hands of those who knew the man.

According to the 58-year-old, the medal belongs to Phillip Jarrett, who joined the Royal Field Artillery as a driver and was posted to France on 17th August 1915.

Mr Jarrett was awarded three medals – the Victory Medal, the British Medal, and the 1914/15 Star medal which Peter found in his garden on May 17.

The star awarded to soldiers who served in France in the period between November 23, 1914, and December 31, 1915.

Mr Thorpe, who works as a photographer in Bristol, is hopeful that he will find any remaining relatives of the soldier.

He said: “I’ve been building my house plus creating a garden on an old commercial site in BS5 and have found all sorts of old bottles and junk.

“On this occasion I was moving earth to build a greenhouse. As well as finding the usual junk, this interesting shaped piece of metal caught my eye.

“Once cleaned up it was easy to do a quick google search to establish which medal it was.

“Luckily, the stamp with the names and details were undamaged and easy to read.”

Mr Thorpe took to the internet to try and learn more about Mr Jarrett, discovering that he had joined the RFA in 1914 before serving with the Expeditionary Force in France and Flanders.

He died at Kimnel Park Military Hospital in North Wales on October 12, 1918, of malaria contracted while on active service – being Commemorated in Bodelwydden Churchyard there.

Mr Thorpe added: “There is a Joseph Jarrett who would have been about 18 at the time of Phillip’s birth, so he is a possibility as Phillip’s father.

“Joseph was the fifth of eleven children of John and Ann Jarrett who lived at Aston, Birmingham.

“They had moved to Birmingham from Bristol in about 1881 and probably had a lot of Bristol cousins.”

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