The following are some of the more commonly asked questions about our service …
Can you find my relative’s medals ?
Our focus is necessarily on researching and reuniting medals that are sent to us, in itself a very time consuming process so you will have to initiate your own search which we can advise you on how and where to start. We will also add your lost or missing medals to our Medals ~ LOST + FOUND pages – just send us the details you have. You may find additional resources to help you here >> Useful Links.
Where do the medals come from ?
The medals come from a variety of sources – members of the public in NZ and overseas, NZ Defence Forces, NZRSA, Police, medal collectors, security services, businesses, clubs, hospitality organisations and charity shops.
Will you research any medal ?
Yes, but only if it’s Named. Our priority will always be to search for a relative of New Zealand war service medals first. Foreign medals we will also undertake to reunite as and when there are no pressing NZ medal research cases. Un-named medals, e. g. WW2 campaign and service medals, are almost impossible to return unless accompanied by either at least one named medal such as a gallantry, meritorious or long service medal, or a related item that clearly links the medals with a particular recipient, e. g. photographs, trophies, certificates, letters, documents, receipts etc.
How do you know the medals sent to MRNZ are not stolen ?
We don’t – however, if we suspect a medal has been stolen we will be obliged to advise the NZ Police.
Will you research a medal if I send you the details of it ?
We will only research medals received at MRNZ. These are acknowledged to the sender by an emailed letter of Receipt & Temporary Loan for your own records.
What happens if a Veteran’s family has moved overseas ?
MRNZ has many international contacts and resources that we can use to trace a Veteran’s family or descendants anywhere in the world.
How long does the research take ?
Every case is different in its background and the make up of the family concerned. Tracing a relative or descendant may be quite quick if they are well documented in public records, such as in Censuses and Electoral Rolls. If not well documented we will make the very best effort to trace a descendant however, a Veteran who is native to another country, or if the descendant family has emigrated to another country, the search and confirmation of identity process may be considerably prolonged (years even). You may be assured MRNZ will not give up a search until all resources at our disposal have been exhausted. Irrespective of the outcome, you will be advised of the results.
What happens to the medals if a descendant can’t be traced, or if the medals are no longer wanted ?
In the short to medium term we will retain all non-reunited medals at MRNZ as it is always possible further information can become available from readers of our website or from the messages we attach to a Veteran’s Profile pages in the Auckland War Memorial Museum’s Cenotaph on-line database. Once we consider all possibilities have been exhausted and the medal still has no ‘home’, the current owner (donor) will be consulted before a decision is made to either return the medal to that person, or send the medal to the national museum of the Service the medal recipient was from, e. g. the Navy, Army, Air Force, Police etc in their country of origin. No medal entrusted to our care will ever be sold, swapped or otherwise disposed of.
Why are we doing this ? … no-one does anything for FREE these days.
We as ex-servicemen and Veterans are only too well aware of the sacrifices and hardships many of our contemporary military veterans have had to face during warlike or dangerous operations overseas. Our military forebears who fought in the NZ Land Wars, Anglo-Boer War, 1st & 2nd World Wars endured ghastly circumstances over a number of years that resulted in a loss of life among the country’s young men that we hope never to suffer again. For their descendants, medals remain the only tangible evidence of their military Service, and for many thousands the Sacrifices made, by men and women they never knew.
Sadly, many of these earlier Veterans have been long forgotten, lost in the mists of time as families died out, split apart, or were reconstituted by new relationships, all of which has been at the expense of knowing they had ancestor Veterans who served, and died. Their medals also have separated from their families thus reinforcing the loss of respect and honour, whilst promoting everlasting anonymity.
MRNZ is dedicated to reuniting medals of the ‘forgotten’ with their descendant families, medals that have been lost, abandoned, broken or stolen only to reappear as collectables or curios in shops, on the internet, or found by authorities and members of the public. By reuniting these medals with the Veteran’s descendant kin, we hope to re-awaken the memory of these forgotten men and women, and to honour their story, their deeds and in particular those who made the Supreme Sacrifice by paying the Ultimate Price. Caring for and wearing their medals on appropriate occasions is just one way descendant families can keep their Veteran’s memory relevant and ‘alive’ as the generations role on – we owe them that much.
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