Medal collector David Matthews shows off his collection of medals, as he proudly called them pieces of history. Picture: TRICIA WATKINSON
Source: News Corp Australia
FOR David Matthews, there was a very personal reason behind becoming a collector of military medals.
His very first medal was handed to him in 1947 at South Australia’s Government House, on behalf of his father, Captain Lionel Colin Matthews, who was executed by the Japanese while a prisoner in Borneo during World War II.
Capt Matthews had refused to tell the enemy anything that would endanger the lives of his comrades.
The wartime hero was tortured and executed in 1944, leaving his wife and son in Adelaide. “The Military Cross was presented to me as a small boy, and I’ve had it all my life,” Mr Matthews, 76, said.
Capt Matthews was the only man to receive both the George Cross and a Military Cross for Bravery.
His medals have now been donated to the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, their “rightful home in Australia”.
“I couldn’t make money out of his bravery,” his son said. Mr Matthews said it was difficult to put a value on any medal, which was seen as a terrific link to history.
“Collectors consider themselves as custodians,” he said.
“You pick up a medal with a name, the rank, the regiment the person was in, or the ship he was on. You’re holding a piece … that this person had once held in his lifetime.”
In antique shops and online, Mr Matthews unearthed service medals of British campaigns and Indian Army campaigns.
One the most prized possessions in his collection – which is kept in a bank for safekeeping – is a China War medal received by the 100 sailors on South Australian ship Protector, which saw action in the Boxer Rebellion of 1900.
“My great-uncle was on the Protector, but his medal went to the other side of the family,” he said.
The value of a medal, like coins, increases depending on the rarity.“Some collectors have themes – medals of a regiment, of certain ranks, or Australian service only,” Mr Matthews said.
He said part of the fun of collecting was researching the person awarded the medal and finding out as much as possible about their war efforts.
A piece of family lineage
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