A Highworth Royal Air Force veteran is set to be reunited with his ancestor’s war medals, in part thanks to the Advertiser.

Gerry Evans, chairman of the Highworth branch of the Royal British Legion, received a call from a stranger in April saying he had the war medals of Gerry’s great-great-uncle John Henry Evans.

The man, whose name is Peter Dewhurst, had purchased the medals in a shop in London in 1978 for £63.

He found Gerry after Googling Henry’s name and coming across a 2018 article in the Adver of Gerry honouring his ancestor.

Gerry, 70, said: “Peter got in touch with through the Legion and said he’d found me as a descendant of Henry through the Adver article, and we’ve been in communication ever since.

“I offered to buy them off him but he’s decided to donate them back to the family, which is a fantastic gesture that brought me to tears.”

Gerry is hoping to organise a meet-up with Peter, who lives in Kent, in the New Year, to thank him personally for handing over the medals by gifting him a tree or replica medals set as a form of remembrance.

“He’s had the medals for 46 years and all of a sudden I pop up on the scene, so it is such a gesture to give them away for free and only want a donation to the Legion or the Royal Artillery Assocation in return.”

Henry was an acting bombardier who lost his life in the second Battle of Ypres in 1915 alongside five of his fellow fighters, with the group buried together at Brandhoek cemetery, Belgium. Henry was also a veteran of the Boer War.

Gerry is a former RAF technician who spent 18 years in the services. He and his wife Maggie took part in a march in France and Belgium in 2018 commemorating the Great Pilgrimage of 1928 to mark the anniversary of the First World War.

Gerry said: “I want to thank the Adver for publishing the article in the first place because without them doing so, Peter would never have been able to get in contact with me.”

The Highworth & District Branch of the Royal British Legion meet on the first Wednesday of every month in the King and Queen Public House, High Street, Highworth, at 7:30pm.

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