War medals hold a fascination for Geoff Rushowick, to the point collecting them has become a four-decade passion for the retired teacher.
Asked when he started, Rushowick paused a moment to think about it.
"I've been married 37-years, so it's a good 40 years ago, 41 years ago," he finally replied.
So why war medals, which is not exactly a hobby most think of when considering collectable pastimes.While Rushowick said there is a family connection to the military, it was not a major factor in pursuing the hobby.
"My dad served in World War I in the Royal Canadian Engineers, and I was in Army Cadets," he said.Rushowick's mother was also a war bride and his son Patrick has also followed a military career and is currently serving in Afghanistan.
"They're more fun than coins," he offered with a smile, adding "most of them are named."
Rushowick explained many war medals have been stamped with the name of the recipient, and that is where his true passion for the hobby has taken root.
"I'm looking to see if I can find the guy's history," he said.
Rushowick mentioned coins because he did have a tentative start in that hobby as a youth.
"My mother used to work at The Bay," he said, adding back then they would occasionally take a silver dollar in payment. "She'd put in a regular dollar and bring it home for me."
But the coins never held a true fascination for Rushowick, who said he just "sort of fell into it," in terms of collecting war medals.
Interestingly, while he recalls the first medal he ever acquired, a British Indian Mutiny - Defence of Lucknow from a soldier in the 78th Highlanders, a medal from a battle in 1857, it is no longer in the collection.
"Those are long gone," he said.
But the seed had been set.
Rushowick said the Military Medal Collecting Club "used to have really good auctions," and he began to become a rather regular bidder, growing his collection with each successful bid.
Initially Rushowick said he had a book which listed different military battles and engagements, and he had thought about collecting "a medal for each battle and each campaign."
At the time Rushowick said he was focusing his interest on medals from members of the King's Dragoon Guards, and he soon found his goal of a medal from each battle was likely unattainable.
"Their medals really skyrocketed," he said. " I've still got the Dragoon Guard stuff but I haven't bought a Dragoon Guard medal in a good 20-years."
So Rushowick altered his collection's focus to another British unit, the Royal Marines. That part of his collection continues to grow. He estimated he has 300 Royal Marine medals, adding with a smile "I don't count them."
In terms of medals there are two general types, those presented for 小蓝视频 involved in particular battles, or campaigns, and then those medals presented for acts of bravery and valour.
"Those (for bravery) are fairly high priced. I don't have too many of those," said Rushowick. He added in the case of the Royal Marines every Victoria Cross earned by their Regiment, the originals are in the unit's museum.
Within the collection Rushowick said there are pieces he is "really pleased with." He pointed to two medals among many spread over the kitchen table.
"It's a pair nobody would get really excited about, but I am," he said.
The first was purchased about a decade ago. It was a fifth place Royal Tournament medal for sabre versus sabre, presented in 1939 to a Sgt. A.V. Perry.
A few years later Rushowick said he acquired a book on military tournaments and there is a picture of Perry.
But the second medal makes the story complete.
"Last year I was searching an auction and I got sort of excited when his name rang a bell," he said.
Rushowick had found a second medal presented to an A.V. Perry. He added he expects he would have gotten a World War II service medal too, "but I'll likely never find them. It does happen but rarely, rarely."
Rushowick also has recently acquired a set of medals which included a Distinguished Service Medal from WWI. The Gunner had retired service after the war, but when WWII broke out he re-enlisted and was assigned to defending armed merchant ships.
Rushowick said merchant ships had guns mounted, although he added "they didn't really have a lot of armour."
The ship was attacked by a German submarine, and the Gunner forced in down, but a second submarine sunk the ship.
"He survived but wasn't picked up until the next day," said Rushowick.
The Gunner received a medal for his service, which Rushowick said wasn't unusual until you consider the circumstance. "Not many for it for taking potshots at a submarine Those I'm quite pleased with. I'll never get another one like it."
Another set which stands out for Rushowick are medals presented to Tray Foot, a Royal Marine burglar.
Foot was born in 1873 and joined when he was 16, "so he was under age," said Rushowick. He first saw action in Gambia in 1894, then served in 小蓝视频 Africa receiving a medal with seven bars, representing battles he was involved in, including Modder River, Diamond Hill and Johannesburg.
"I think the max anybody got was eight," said Rushowick.
In World War I he was assigned as a Messenger to the Admiralty and earned a Meritorious Service Medal, presented to only those of Sgt. rank, or higher, who had served with irreproachable service. "That was kind of hard to do if you know what I mean," said Rushowick with a grin.
And then there a package of documentation Rushowick smiled broadly over as he pulled it from its protective plastic sleeve.
The material relates to Lieut. William Talbot Evans, who was captured in Crete in 1941. Placed in a German Prisoner of War Camp, his discharge papers list four camps he was in, and noted he was caught tunnelling from Eichstat in 1944. He was aided on the tunnel by two other British and Canadian Lieut. Granville.
The documentation even incudes letters from Evans from the camps, one alluding to the fact he was handcuffed during a portion of his interment.
Rushowick also acquired material from the Royal Marines in the Falkland Islands before the brief war.
"These are the write-ups. The patrol reports," he said, adding he is not sure how they came to be on the market, but they are an interesting part of his collection. He said he plans to compile a list of the soldiers mentioned in the reports, in hopes of one day finding one of their medals up for sale.
So how does a Canadian collector find British war medals, and the information behind the recipients?Rushowick said it's a case of contacts. For example when still working on the King's Dragoon Guards he made contact with a man in Britain.
"He knew everything (about the Guards), or could find it," said Rushowick. "Until he passed away we probably corresponded for 20-years, or more. That was really neat."
Having connections in Britain is vital when it comes to learning about the men behind the medal.
"I want the man behind the medal," he offered.
Rushowick said he wants to know the men, and covets paperwork on the soldiers, in particular discharge papers because they will list battles involved in, medals presented, and similar information.
Finding such material is more difficult with his focus on the Royal Marines.
"A lot of the Royal Marines records were destroyed," he said, adding at some point the group seemed to simply have "culled the files." He admitted that is at times frustrating.
"With the Dragoon Guards, everybody that served I could get discharge papers for."
Rushowick added information pre World War II is far easier to access. The records from World War II are still not available to anyone other than family, so accessing records is much harder on modern medals.
Prior to WWII almost all British medals were stamped with the recipient's name. In WWII many campaign medals were simply presented generically, so without names, some medals are just medals.
The Internet has made the hobby somewhat more accessible. As an example eBay is a new avenue for finding medals for sale, although not to the extent it once was.
"It's really petering out. Up to five-years ago you could get lots of really neat stuff," said Rushowick, who added medals for sale through the online sellers are becoming rarer. "You can still get documentation, but not so many medals."
Having paperwork doesn't add to the monetary value of the medals, but does to the enjoyment of the hobby.
"Most people don't put value on paper. I think documentation is totally undervalued," he said.
