Having taken on the lease of a small shop, a very active Operation Christmas Box supporter, Brenda Stone was sorting through a pile of rubbish that had been left by the last tenant when she came across 4 medals.  They consisted of a 1914-15 Star, a British war medal, a Victory Medal, and a Territorial Efficiency Medal.  Having asked the landlord if he wanted them, he told Brenda that she should do whatever she wished with them.  Rather than throw them away, she took them home and put them to one side and then forgot about them until recently.  Preferring not to just put them in the bin, she took them to Charterhouse Auction House to see if she could sell them and raise some money for the charity Operation Christmas Box.  After doing some research on the medals from WW1 by their specialist, there was a rather difficult telephone call from the auction house researcher.  But having assured the researcher that they were not Brenda’s family medals, it turned out that the medals belonged to Capt R B Trenfield.  Unfortunately, after the end of the war, Capt Trenfield committed some offences whereupon he went to prison and deprived of his rank in October 1922.

When the medals were auctioned, it enabled Brenda to give just over £100 to Operation Christmas Box.  Out of a rather sad tale, good came out of it.  Our UK Armed Forces personnel will benefit from this donation to provide Christmas Boxes for personnel who will be unaccompanied serving overseas at Christmas and away from their families and friends.