Bernadette Ollivro-Murphy (80) was devastated when she could not find the medal which she was given as a child in 1946 by King George VI. She remembers having it in the days before the Liberation 75 celebrations on 9 May, but has not been able to find it since. She thinks that she might have lost it in or around the HSBC bank at Five Oaks or at the Co-op store in Georgetown.
Her daughter appealed last week on social media for help to find the medal, posting details of where it may have been lost, in the hope of getting it back.
The medal is yet to be found or returned, but Mrs Ollivro-Murphy, who is from St Clement, has been contacted by Islanders offering to give her medals they had.
Six people got in touch and she now has a replacement, which was found among items from a house clearance.
She said: ‘It is just amazing how nice people are.
‘It is so lovely that so many people wanted to come forward to help and were prepared to donate medals.
‘This one was found in a house clearance and I can’t thank the man and everyone enough.
‘It needed some cleaning, so I have been doing that, and it is exactly the same as the one that I had.
‘I’m so pleased and it shows how lovely people really are.’
Mrs Ollivro-Murphy was given her lost medal a year after the war ended, and her mother had looked after it before giving it to her.
She remains hopeful that the original will turn up.
She added: ‘I won’t stop looking for mine. It still has sentimental value to me, even though it isn’t worth a lot.
‘It means a lot to me, so hopefully it’ll turn up somewhere, but it’s lovely that I have replaced it.’
