Long-lost medal unlocks Jersey soldier's "remarkable" story

Friday 15 November 2019

A long-lost World War One medal found in a Jersey field has unlocked the "remarkable" life story of a former Jersey soldier as an extensive search managed to reunite the artefact with the veteran's family in Australia - nearly 30 years after his death.

Following the discovery of the British War Medal by a local metal detectorist, its origins slowly uncovered the story of a brave local serviceman and an unlikely historical link between Jersey and Australia.

The small piece of history, dug up by detectorist Kevin Rive a few years ago when he was searching a St. Lawrence field, originally belonged to Jersey-born Allister Seth Bichard who later emigrated to Queensland, Australia.

After several failed attempts to trace the soldier, a significant search for his relatives and an arduous verification process - the medal has now been safely reunited with Mr Bichard's family in a special ceremony last month.

Pictured: The medal was restored, ready to be presented to the soldier's family (Jason Cronin). 

Kevin's search continued to draw a blank due to missing service records, so he decided to announce his find publicly on Armistice Day last year in the hopes of tracking down some more information about the medal's owner.

At that point, two members of the Channel Islands Great War Study Group - Jason Cronin in Jersey and Laura Pollard in Brisbane - began researching and piecing together the owner’s war service and movements, eventually succeeding in making contact with living members of Mr Bichard’s family. 

“I had been doing a lot of research at the time,” Jason told Express.

“I thought 'challenge accepted' and once I realised there was an Australian connection I contacted Laura Pollard who also has a Jersey connection [as] her father is from Jersey. And she found a Bichard in the phone book, so I texted him. And he came back as the son. I didn’t mention at the time there was a medal found, but after a six month verification process I told Kev I had the family!"

The Bichard family didn’t have any of Mr Bichard’s medals, but they did have some photos of him, which helped Jason and Laura to positively identify his regiments, and in turn match them to the medal records for a Macallister Seth Bichard. 

Pictured: Mr Bichard's children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren gathered for the special medal ceremony.

It turned out that Mr Bichard had emigrated from Jersey to Australia in 1915, and served in the Great War after returning to England in 1917. Importantly, however, he was serving under the first name of Macallister, not Allister.

Underage, he wasn't unable to enrol in the army in Australia, as he couldn’t prove parental consent. In February 2017 aged 18, he enrolled into the Honourable Artillery Company in London, before being transferred to the Machine Gun Corps.

Mr Bichard saw action in France and was discharged from the Machine Gun Corps in 1918 due to injury. He was awarded a British War Medal and a Victory Medal as well as being issued a Silver War Badge.

He returned to Australia in 1927, that time with his wife, Blanche Victorian Huchet, and remained there until his death in February 1990. 

Once the background to the medal and the family link had been established, Kevin passed the medal to Jason who had it restored, ready for its journey to the other side of the world. 

At the end of October this year, the medal was presented to one of Mr Bichard's sons, Lance Bichard. The medal was handed to the family by a former Jersey military serviceman Neil Langton, who also now lives in Australia, alongside a representative of the Australian Defence Forces.

Pictured: One of Mr Bichard's sons, Lance, was presented with the medal which had been lost for so many years, by ex-Jersey serviceman, Neil Langton

Also present at the ceremony was Mr Bichard’s children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren all present and eager to learn about his military history, because he himself, had spoken little of his service during his lifetime.

“The family were extremely appreciative and thankful to everyone involved in finding and returning the medal and say they will treasure it always,” said Jason.

“Allister Seth Bichard had a remarkable life journey and was clearly an exceptional man, whose desire to serve and protect his country saw him travel independently to the other side of the world twice. He demonstrated the courage, bravery and spirit that has always characterised soldiers of the Australian and British Armed Forces.”

It is not known how or when Allister Bichard lost his war medals. His Victory Medal and Silver War Badge are still missing. It is believed the medals were lost before he returned to Australia in 1927.