Long-lost First World War medal returns to Midland from Nova Scotia

A First World War medal, discovered in the back of a 1950s-era Chevrolet in Halfway River, Nova Scotia, has been successfully returned to a family in Midland.

The 1914-18 service medal, belonging to Private Nelson Hampden Bell, was presented to Jeff Bell — his closest living relative — in Midland on Nov. 2. 

“This is one of those lost and found stories that we are delighted to say has a happy ending,” said Daniel Travers, Sgt-at-Arms at the Midland Legion.

In September, Travers received an email from Keith Odlin, the service officer and museum curator at Legion Branch 45 in Parrsboro, Nova Scotia, notifying him of the medal. 

Charles Davison, a farmer in Halfway River, discovered the medal in the back of an old Chevrolet truck he was restoring when he removed the rear seats. Davison contacted the Parrsboro Legion for assistance in tracking down its rightful owner.

All First World War medals are inscribed with the names of the soldiers receiving them. Odlin was able to see that the medal belonged to infantryman Private N.H. Bell. He searched online records and discovered that Bell’s next of kin, Mary Bell, had a Midland P.O. box listed as her address.

Odlin contacted Travers, who enlisted the help of Legion volunteer Rob Thorpe, and Huronia Museum curator Genevieve Carter, to help track down Bell’s closest living relative.

Through research, they discovered that Bell was a Midland resident during the war and that he is currently buried at Lakeview Cemetery. Thorpe used burial records from the cemetery to track down the name of the individual who paid for the burial, which led them to Bell’s sister. Carter then sifted through extensive genealogy records to find Bell’s closest living relative — Jeff Bell.

Once they knew who the medal belonged to, Odlin mailed the medal from Parrsboro to Midland.

“This was an exciting collaboration between both legion branches and the Huronia Museum,” said Travers. “With hundreds of thousands of these medals presented to Canadian soldiers during and after the war, finding its rightful owner was, by no means, certain. We are so pleased that the medal is where it rightfully belongs.”