Pride as war medals returned to relatives of Smethwick hero soldier
They were, quite literally, unearthed by avid gardener Roger Aston while he was digging in his garden – and now First World War medals belonging to a soldier have been returned to his proud family.
Mr Aston dug up the two medals belonging to Smethwick soldier Francis Hubball in the garden of his home. It is believed they lay hidden in the garden in Hales Lane, Smethwick, for more than 70 years.
And just hours after an appeal to find Mr Hubball's relatives was featured in the Express & Star, his great niece and Mr Aston's paths crossed.
Mr Aston, 64, said: "I decided to go down to the genealogy day at Smethwick Heritage Centre, but when I got there all the computers were full so I went to speak with one of my friends.
"We started chatting and he said 'there's someone you need to meet', and led me over to a lady.
"When she saw me she burst into tears and said she was the great niece of Francis Hubball."
Janet Whitehouse, who has been researching her family's history for 27 years and who volunteers at the Heritage Centre, had just hours earlier read an article in the Express & Star about
Mr Aston's find. She said: "It's astonishing, but it's been a lovely co-incidence. It's very special, but very sad in a way because no-one will ever know why these medals were in Roger Aston's garden, so that will remain a mystery."
Using genealogy websites Mr Aston discovered that Private Hubball was born in around 1884, and had worked as a cycle polisher in Smethwick. He married his wife Agnes in 1907 and went on to have four children. The family all lived together in Dibble Road.
The soldier of the 1st Battalion South Staffordshire Regiment died in the fields of Flanders in Belgium on October 26, 1917. The British campaign medal, dated 1914-1919, and a German medal dated 1914-1918, the origins of which still remain a mystery, are now with Private Hubball's grandson Michael, 67, of Stourbridge.
He said: "I knew he was in the First World War and was killed in it, but I didn't know anything about any medals at all. It's fantastic, absolutely brilliant, because I've now got a further link to my dad's family."
Mr Aston said he had no idea how the medals got to the property in Hales Lane in the first place. One theory was that they were lost by children who were playing with them after the war, but before the house was built in 1939.
