World War One soldier's medals issued more than 100 years later
More than a century on, my family has received something special: an overdue delivery of Pip, Squeak and Wilfred.
Pte John Brownlee was a soldier with 9th Battalion Royal Irish Fusiliers, serving at Beaumont Hamel in France. The Ministry of Defence highlights that all World War One medals were sent to the recipient or next of kin after the war had ended. "Since the medals were definitely no longer in circulation - and official documentation, by way of the Medal Index Card, also confirmed this - we were able to reissue the medals as the originals."
Pip, Squeak and Wilfred - for those who are not familiar - were cartoon characters from the Daily Mirror whose names became synonymous with the medals at that time.It is thought his son Ernest, aged five when his father died, kept a photograph of a soldier at his house in Sandy Row, Belfast. We have since gathered that John Brownlee was also an engine driver in the town, a member of the Orange Order and a signatory toJohn Brownlee, pictured far right with a towel over his shoulder, was a coach for Queen's Park in Lurgan
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