My little orphan BWM. 69th Canadian Infantry.

I have been picking up some finds that I fell are very interesting. My latest is this single issue British War Medal, Full Entitlement to an older man of the 69th Bn.

I have not done much research into this man yet, however, I have found a very interesting and tragic fact. When I get it all sorted out, I will post in the WWI section for sure. It will be awhile I am afraid because his Service Records are not yet digitized, but are currently unavailable for viewing.

I think we have all had our horror stories in regards to packaging we receive. This one arrived pretty well protected I think. The first 6 photos of the packaging, my hand is there deliberately for size reference. Please bare in mind, this is a single issue British War Medal ONLY.









Now that the packaging is out of the way....here is the dirty little gem, including the wrong ribbon. The medal will clean up beautifully, and I will have a crack at it later,but for now, I am posting it as I got it.






And of course, the all important naming. I could have taken more than the one shot of the naming, but honestly, I cannot find my camera and my phone is simply not up to the task.

Nice find Cliff and glad to see that some people package stuff safely.  I got a letter from LAC yesterday and the envelope was only partially closed, thankfully there wasn't any private info in the envelope.  I wonder you mention that the "medal will clean up beautifully" hope your not one of those polish nuts .  Sorry but after reading all the threads on the British Medal forum about whether to polish or not I just had to ask, polish away and enjoy.

Thanks

Lorne jr

Can't wait to hear more about the man behind your medal.

You mentioned that you were going to clean the medal, I have always heard not to clean medals. From what I have learned from you on this forum you have a lot of experience with medals. Could you explain how you clean them with out damaging them?
Your input would be much appreciated as I have a friend who just got her grandfather's WWII medals and they are in rough shape. Not really worn but just black with oxidation.

I was just pulling Cliffs leg about cleaning. Myself I don't polish medals in my collection although I might do a very light cleaning with warm soapy water and tooth brush if there really crusty. This is of course completely up to the individual. To be honest I don't think a one time polish will damage a medal what you want to avoid is regular polishing, also never use anything abrasive. Just my opinions and thoughts.

Thanks

Lorne jr

Not a polish nut at all LOL. I am not in either camp. Clean and polish, or Leave as found. I take each new medal on its own merits in regards to my decision to clean or leave alone.

Basically if the medals are mounted as worn and the patina is pretty much even, I will clean up only if necessary with the soapy water. If the patina on the medal is uneven, it gets removed. If the medal is like this latest one, it will get cleaned and polished ONCE. My reasoning behind this, although likely flawed, is that in this case, the man it was issued to never wore it, never saw it.

This newest medal, I will clean and likely end up polishing due to the fact that black/dark stuff that can be seen in the photos, is sort of a gummy substance. What exactly it is, I do not know. I do know that it has to go.

Like you Lorne, I will use mild grease cutting dish soap (I use Dawn as it is what we use here at home for dishes) I will use warm water and a Q tip or cotton ball at first to see how it lifts off. I do not like to use a toothbrush as I am always afraid I may end up scratching the medal and leaving swirls in the medal.

I will use a silver dip for some medals as well. See my Colonial Auxiliary Forces Officers Decoration posted Here https://www.cdnmilitarycollectors.com/t2759-well-now-that-i-have-vd-i-am-looking-for-a-butt-nut

I am leery of the dip as well because I find it leaves sort of a frosted look to the medal. I will also use my mothers old 'Silver Mitt" It is a very old one but is very very soft. I figure if she used it for 30 odd years to polish the silver tea serving set, I can use it on a medal once without harm.

I will not use a brillo or scrubbing pad, toothpaste and toothbrush, silvo, 0000 steel wool, or anything else. You may find it silly to say that, but I have seen and heard many times of people using these items to clean medals.

Of course I have always had trouble with Stars and bronze, brass medals as they are coated. I just use the soapy water.

Thank you very much for your reply Cliff. That was just the information I was looking for. Very much appreciate the time you put into your response.

48th wrote:Thank you very much for your reply Cliff. That was just the information I was looking for. Very much appreciate the time you put into your response.

You are more than welcome. Why not post a couple of photos of the medals you wondering about. This way we can see exactly what you are up against.

Hi Cliff,

I would love to add pictures but aside from my issues with uploading pictures on this site I don't actually have the medals in my possession, they are with a relative of my friend right now. They were found by my friends aunt after being missing for decades. I just wanted some good information before some crazy cleaning methods were attempted. They plan to from them up for display at some point.
After reading your cleaning tips response it has me thinking about the medals in my collection. I have never tried to clean any of them but might take a look at them again and possibly do a light cleaning one day if needed now I know what to do and not do.

Thanks again Cliff for your information, you have help me more than once with medals.

I didnt know you were Polish Cliff! All these years Ive known you........

jholl72 wrote:I didnt know you were Polish Cliff! All these years Ive known you........

Cute Jeff. I am of Irish and German descent. I do however, apply Pollock logic at work just to understand why management does things the way they do.

Hey Cliff,

Never heard of "Pollock logic" as a management tool before. As in "Jackson Pollock" -- throw stuff around, see what sticks and see if anyone can make any sense out of it??

Ian

Ian B wrote:Hey Cliff,

    Never heard of "Pollock logic" as a management tool before.  As in "Jackson Pollock" -- throw stuff around, see what sticks and see if anyone can make any sense out of it??

    Ian

Pretty much that is it in a nutshell Ian. It seems to me that if it makes sense, then management wants nothing to do with it. I have been waiting for almost 5 months to have some electrical plugs added between my bay and the bay beside me. They finally did it, but they removed the electrical plugs for the other side of my bay.

In comparison, I jokingly commented that I was superstitious and could not work in bay 13. I asked they add 1/2 after the number painted on the floor. I was then off for 2 days, upon my return, the bay was renumbered 13 1/2.

Ok, now that I totally derailed this topic, LOL here is Joseph Lacaille's British War medal now. Total time in cleaning the gunk and mounting it was less than 2 hours. The time to get half decent photos.... about 4 hours, and this was the best I could get. The last photo in the block is the way a got the medal.

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And for the all important naming on this medal.

All I can do is shake my head. It's true what they say -- "Some Mothers do have 'em!"