More theft

[David Hardway]

Late Saturday night 9 Victoria Cross`s 2 George Cross`s and a Albert Medal were stolen from the Waiouru army museum in New Zealand this includes Charles Uphams VC and Bar

May the lowlifes concerned rot in the hot place

More info as it comes to hand

Dave

[mike mckinley]

as the emoticon at the bottom of your post suggests, i think a firing squad would be more appropriate if they are caught.

[RHClarke]

Originally posted by mike mckinley
as the emoticon at the bottom of your post suggests, i think a firing squad would be more appropriate if they are caught.

Why waste bullets and soldier's time? There is a semi active volcano near the military preserve. Make them tread magma...

[Rookie]

According to the morning paper there are over 100 medals gone including the ones Dave mentioned

Rookie

[Tony Smith]

And the only way that the story could get on the Australian news was by saying these were medals issued to "ANZACS". Some dolt then rang a talkback radio show to ask why they were in NZ in the first place, they should be in Aust!

[Rookie]

I do not have the ability to reproduce a cartoon in this mornings Dominion Evening Post (Wellington NZ) showing a hard bitten Colonel holding a bullet on a cushion saying this is a cast medal that we would like to present to the thieves at high velocity on their chest (sic)

Rookie

[Jordan Baker]

I think this is the one you are talking about. In this case these guys deserve full chests of "medals".

[Rookie]

Jordon you are a genius, I think the cartoon is apt, apart from being slightly comic it does echo the feelings of the majority of us here. We hope this outrage is solved soon. current thinking is that it has a domestic political basis but time will tell

Rookie

[Mike Timoshyk]

Unfortunately as with stolen Art, the stuff can go "underground" in private collections for years before surfacing. Such as the VC that went missing from the CWM .

Hopefully the authorities have good leads on the perps.

Mike Timoshyk

[Stefan Siverud]

There really should be some kind of curse on medals of the Hollywood-Egyptian kind. The thieves' hands that touch them rotting, the eyes falling out and the like.

Hope they are brought back as soon as possible, this is a horrible thing indeed.

[Daniel Treasure]

May the flees of half a million camles chew their nuts off! Do they still have capitol punishment in N.Z.?

[David Hardway]

Today all 96 medals stolen have been recovered and are undamaged

Dave

[cliff]

Originally Posted by David Hardway

Today all 96 medals stolen have been recovered and are undamaged

Dave

Excellent...when's the hanging for those who nicked them? I'll come and cheer while watching them choke their lives away

I second the "EXCELLENT"!!!!!!!!!

[Alex Blair (RIP)]

Originally Posted by David Hardway

Today all 96 medals stolen have been recovered and are undamaged

Dave

Heres the story...



Stolen war medals recovered in NZ

Posted 2 hours 31 minutes ago
Updated 38 minutes ago

War medals stolen from a New Zealand army museum last December have been found.

Police say all 12 sets of a total of 96 medals have been found at an unspecified location.

Nine Victoria Crosses, including Charles Upham's VC and Bar - the only one ever awarded to a combat soldier - were taken.

Captain Upham was New Zealand's most decorated soldier and was awarded the VC and Bar for valour in Crete and North Africa during World War II.

He died in 1994.

The recovered medals have not been damaged and are being tested for forensic purposes.

New Zealand Defence Minister Phil Goff says he is delighted and relieved about the recovery of the medals which he has called national treasures.

He says their return is a welcome relief for the whole nation.

"The worst scenario was that they might have been stolen to order, they might have been smuggled out of the country - relatively easy to do given their size," he said.

"To have them back, to have these as national treasures back under the control of the Defence Force and in the future available again to the public is just great."

Police inquiry head Detective Senior Sergeant Chris Benjamin says a reward was agreed to be paid to what he calls an "independent third party".

But he will not name that person or say how much money will be paid, but he does say the transaction will be completed on Monday.

Meanwhile, a nine-strong team of detectives continues to try to track down the thieves.

Detective Benjamin says the recovery of the medals narrows the focus of the inquiry and he adds the net is closing in on the thieves.

[PPS]

Could this have been a twinge of consience by one of the perpetrators?

Why hang them!!

Extradite them to a remote island somewhere and set on them

Paul.

[Mike Timoshyk]

BRAVO ZULU on the good news about the recovery of the stolen decorations.

It is hoped that they do not go "underground" in a back vault in some museum. With the public response, it hopefully has ignited renewed interest in the sacrifices of those who have gone before us and will be proudly displayed for generations to come.

Mike Timoshyk
Windsor Ontario

"at the going down of the sun, we will remember them"

[Rookie]

There has already been a comment from the museum that the ORIGINALS will be on display and not replicas. They are for people to see the real thing was the comment I thin.

Rookie

[sapper740]

Originally Posted by David Hardway

Today all 96 medals stolen have been recovered and are undamaged

Dave

Great news Dave! I know I speak for all when I let go a great sigh of relief. Medals such as those are truly a national treasure and laws should be enacted whereby more severe penalties are imposed for "Crimes against National Treasures", but I guess politicians have greater priorities. About the time I left Canada the government passed hate crime legislation to protect homosexuals. Beat up a queer and you can expect a hefty fine and a long holiday at taxpayer's expense, however, you can urinate at will on the National War Memorial and end up doing nothing more than community service.

[Evert Joosse]

I'm just happy they were returned. I was horrified when I started reading this topic, but I'm glad there is a happy ending.

[Alex Blair (RIP)]

Open season on these suckers..That is a lot of CMP parts with the reward money...
But the reward money is not the main reason to hunt them down,just a nice kicker..
The main reason is that they are scum that should be eradicated...

Apr 15, 2008 08:35 ET
British Peer Makes NZ$200,000 Available to Catch Medal Thieves

AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND--(Marketwire - April 16, 2008) - Last night in Wellington, Lord Ashcroft, the British peer whose NZ$200,000 reward led earlier this year to the successful return of many of New Zealand's priceless medals for bravery offered a further reward of up to NZ$200,000 for the apprehension and conviction of those who stole them.

Earlier in the day, Lord Ashcroft had visited the Waiouru Army Museum, scene of the theft of the medals: whilst in a police laboratory in Auckland on Monday he was shown the recovered medals themselves, which are undergoing continuing forensic tests.

A total of 96 medals were stolen from the Museum in December. These included no fewer than nine Victoria Crosses, the Commonwealth's most prestigious military medal. Amongst the VC's stolen was the incomparable VC and Bar awarded to the late Charles Upham, one of only three VC and Bars ever issued, and the only VC and Bar ever awarded to a fighting soldier.

Lord Ashcroft is the world's leading collector of Victoria Crosses, having been responsible for building a collection containing more than 10% of all VC's ever conferred. He regards Charles Upham's VC and Bar as of supreme importance. He said, "When I heard that these medals had been stolen, I was shocked. When I then learned that amongst them were no fewer than nine Victoria Crosses, I was simply horrified. Worse still, amongst these medals was the VC and Bar awarded to Captain Charles Upham."

"Charles Upham's VC is incomparable. It is the 'Holy Grail' of Victoria Crosses. I could not bear to think of this tangible record of incredible bravery being melted down or simply thrown away. I knew that, if I could, I had to do something, and that is why I decided to offer the reward for the return of the medals."

Lieutenant General Jerry Mateparae, Chief of the New Zealand Defence Force wrote to thank Lord Ashcroft, "Any theft is distressing, but this was a crime of national significance. It represented a theft of our heritage. It was a callous and belligerent attack against the courage, commitment and honour of the men and women past, present and future who have served our country."

On Monday, Lord Ashcroft also met Corporal Willie Apiata VC, of New Zealand's Special Air Service, the only living New Zealand recipient of the Victoria Cross. Corporal Apiata received the VC for bravery under fire whilst fighting in Afghanistan in 2004.

Notes to editors

The Victoria Cross is the premier honour which Britain and the Commonwealth can bestow upon its citizens, taking precedence over all other decorations. Yet it respects neither rank nor birthright. And, despite its great honour, the medal is a modest Maltese cross, a little over an inch wide, which is cast not from gold or silver, but from base metal.

The first Victoria Cross was announced on 24th February 1857. To date, fewer than fourteen hundred have been awarded the VC. The oldest winner of the Victoria Cross was 61, the youngest just 15.

There are, of course, other awards. But the Victoria Cross is quite different. Unlike other awards, it is only given for valour. There is no other way of winning it. Unlike other awards, each Victoria Cross carries the name of its winner, his rank, the unit with which he was fighting at the time, and the date of the act of bravery. This detail has enabled the building of an extraordinary archive of historical material.

For more information about the Victoria Cross, please visit www.victoriacrossheroes.com.

Captain Charles Upham VC

Throughout the whole of the Second World War, only one man received two VCs. That man was Charles Upham. He was born in Christchurch in 1908. At the age of 30, he enlisted in the second New Zealand Expeditionary Force. It was in Crete, in 1941, that he won his first VC.

His award citation declares that he displayed outstanding gallantry in close-quarter fighting, and was twice hit by mortar shrapnel and badly wounded. In spite of this, and in spite of an attack of dysentery which had reduced him to a near skeleton, he refused hospital treatment and carried an even more-badly wounded man to safety. Eight days later, he fended off an attack with no fewer than 22 German soldiers falling to his fire.

He was evacuated to Egypt and promoted to Captain. Having recovered from his wounds, a year later he received his second VC. His company, which he was leading, was attacking an enemy-held ridge overlooking the El Alamein battlefield. He was wounded twice, but took the position after fierce fighting.

Using grenades, he destroyed a German tank, several guns and a number of vehicles. It was at this point that a machine gun bullet hit his elbow and shattered his arm. But he carried on going forward, and brought back some of his men who had become isolated.

After his wounds were dressed, he returned to his men but was again severely wounded and was this time completely immobilised. He was taken prisoner of war and was incarcerated in the infamous Colditz. When Colditz was liberated by the Americans, most of inmates made their own way home immediately. Upham, however, broke into a German armoury, helped himself to weaponry, and went out "hunting Germans".

Upham had been invested with his first Victoria Cross by King George VI. When the recommendation was made for the second VC, the King remarked that a Bar for the Cross would be "very unusual indeed" and enquired firmly, "Does he deserve it?". The reply he received from Major-General Howard Kippenberger was unequivocal: "In my respectful opinion, Sir, Upham won the VC several times over".

For more information, please contact
Alan Kilkenny
+ 44 1264 781228 or Mobile: + 44 7836 311639
Email: alankilkenny@btconnect.com
Website: www.lordashcroft.com or www.victoriacrossheroes.com