A Werribee woman has found her grandfather’s long-lost World War I medal after it was uncovered about 150 kilometres from her home.
Former Inverloch RSL president Gordon Garbutt presented Linda Scott with the medal earlier this month after a Wonthaggi woman gave it to the RSL.
The woman told Mr Garbutt she found the medal when tidying up her grandparents’ home in Wonthaggi.
After two years of trying to find the medal’s owner, Mr Garbutt contacted Melbourne City RSL research officer Bill Wyndham to ask for help.
Eventually, Mr Wyndham was able to work out that it belonged to Mrs Scott’s grandfather, Arthur Lane, who joined the army in October 1916 at the age of 25.
Mrs Scott said she was surprised the medal was in Wonthaggi, when her grandfather lived in the Yarraville area.
She said her grandfather served in France and Belgium, was badly injured on the front line in Belgium in October 1917 and was gassed in August 1918.
He returned home to his family in November 1919.
“I was six when my grandfather died,” Mrs Scott said. “I can remember him coughing and that he was very ill.”
Linda Scott with the medal. Photo: Damjan Janevski
