A set of stolen military medals, missing for over seven years, has been reunited with its owner after being spotted by chance outside a Rānui op shop.
The medals belonged to Army Warrant Officer Class One Clive Douglas, who lost them in 2017 when thieves broke into his car at Wellington Airport. They were awarded for his peacekeeping deployments in Sinai, Timor-Leste, Bosnia, and Somalia.
Porirua resident Leslee Chase and her daughter discovered the medals in a discarded box while searching for paintbrushes. Recognising their significance, they handed them in to the nearby Porirua RSA.
Douglas, currently an instructor at the Non-Commissioned Officer Leadership Center of Excellence in Texas, was shocked when he saw a photo of his medals shared in a veterans’ social media group.
“I was excited to see them again after so long … and relieved that I’ll eventually be reunited with them,” he said.
For Chase, the discovery was personal—her own father’s Māori Battalion medals were stolen, and she had hoped they would one day be returned.
“I’m very happy for the family that got their medals back because they’re very, very special,” she said.
Douglas’ most treasured medal from the collection is from his first United Nations peacekeeping deployment to Somalia in 1994, a career highlight.
The New Zealand Defence Force will collect the medals from the Porirua RSA and return them to Douglas when he completes his overseas posting. He also hopes to meet Chase and her daughter to personally thank them for their kindness.
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