Sheffield soldier's WW1 medal found by divers during murder probe
- Published
Police diver Roger Bennett (left) discovered the medal belonging to Julian Cliff's great-uncle L/Cpl Stephen Smith
A World War One medal found by police divers investigating a murder has been given to its owner's family.
The British War Medal was discovered in the River Loxley, in Sheffield, by officers from the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Marine Unit.
It was awarded to L/Cpl Stephen Smith, who died aged 23 fighting at Suvla Bay in Turkey in August 1915.
Officers traced his family via social media and presented the medal to his great-nephew Julian Cliff.
PC Roger Bennett said he found the medal while officers were trawling the river as part of a murder investigation.
"I initially thought it was a coin, but as soon as I realised that it was a medal I was amazed," he said.
"We quickly made the decision to attempt to reunite the medal with Stephen's family, our research started within hours of us finding it."
The British War Medal was awarded to L/Cpl Stephen Smith
PC Bennett said that within 24 hours of posting photos of the medal they had been inundated with messages, including from distant relatives of L/Cpl Smith.
The medal was presented to Mr Cliff at Rotherham's Clifton Park Museum together with 22 members of L/Cpl Smith's family, some of whom had never met before.
Mr Cliff said: "At first I thought it was a hoax, but once things started to fall in to place I was so grateful that Roger and the team had decided to find us.
"They went beyond the call of duty and they have brought a family together - most of us have never met before today."
- Published25 October 2018
- Published20 March 2018
