Soldier's war medals finally reach family after 69 years

Published on Monday 22 March 2010 09:18

STRANDED in the Libyan desert during the Second World War with a bullet wound in his throat, he almost completed a gruelling 290-mile trek in a bid to reach allied-held territory.

The late John Easton, a Lance Corporal in the Scots Guards, died at the age of 21, before he was presented with the medals that he deservedly earned for his wartime efforts.

Now, 69 years on, his nephew and next of kin, Adam Easton, has received the four medals from the MoD medal office.

Mr Easton, 69, said: "I sent a letter to the MoD medal office asking if they had uncle John's medals and I got an acknowledgement back saying they would look into it. Last week a package arrived and there they were. I was delighted. The medals are now where they should be."

The medals, which were never claimed by the family after LCpl Easton's death in 1941, include the 1939-1945 Star, the Africa Star, the Defence Medal, and the 1939-1945 War Medal.

LCpl Easton worked as a farm labourer in Midlothian before he joined the 2nd Battalion Scots Guards in 1937. By 1941 he had volunteered to become a member of the Long Range Desert Group – a forerunner of the SAS and SBS.

It was during the unit's first major operation in south-west Libya in 1941 that LCpl Easton was injured. The unit was attacked by a mobile strike squad, backed up by Italian aircraft.

It was thought that LCpl Easton, with a bullet wound to his throat, along with New Zealander Ronald Moore, Glaswegian Alexander Winchester and Alfred Tighe, from Manchester, had died in the attack but they had actually taken to the hills, where they hid overnight.

Rather than give themselves up to the Italians, they attempted to walk 290 miles, following their disappearing tyre tracks in the sand, back to allied-held Tekro.

On the tenth day of the trek, after they had covered 200 miles, a search party found the men.

Although the other three men recovered well, LCpl Easton died shortly after being rescued.

He was mentioned in the Commander in Chief's dispatches in 1941 for his services.

Mr Easton, who began to uncover the details of his uncle's remarkable feat at the end of last year, plans to keep the medals at his home in Musselburgh until he sees his cousin John – also LCpl Easton's nephew – who lives in Canada.

He said: "When I see John, who I suspect was named after uncle John, I will give the medals to him because he is around 15 years younger than me.

"The medals are part of uncle John's effort on behalf of the country where he lost his life."

Sergeant Kevin Gorman, 39, a Scots Guards archivist, had advised Mr Easton to contact the MoD medal office to find out about the medals.

He said: "The medals are pretty common standard medals for the Second World War, with the exception of the Africa Star – you had to have seen combat in Africa to be awarded this medal.

"When LCpl Easton died the family never claimed the medals, so for them to be reunited with the family nearly 70 years later is fantastic. It's a good ending to a tragic story.

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