FOLLOWING a nationwide appeal, war medals discarded in a skip in Hexham have been returned to the family of a Second World War soldier.

Christopher Low, depot supervisor at NWH Waste Services in North Shields, was shocked to discover a number of medals, photographs and decorations originally belonging to Cpl Arthur Glew in one of the skips.

He traced it back to a farm in Hexham, and the search was on for relatives of Cpl Glew. A message on Facebook was shared by tens and thousands of people throughout the country who wished him well in his search.

While many thought the soldier had a link to the North-East because the items came from there, it transpired that his relatives were based in Hull.

Mr Low said: “I found the daughter of Arthur’s half brother in Hull, and the medals were returned to the family on Monday night.

“I had narrowed the search down to three people in the North-East. I found three Arthur Glews who fought in the Second World War; one from Hebburn, one from Northumberland and one from Durham. But it turned out the one we were after was in Hull.

“I’m over the moon I have got them back to the family because that is all I ever wanted to do. The daughter was happy I went through all the effort to return them, and the family had been upset they had ended up in a skip.”

According to information provided on the back of the frame, Cpl Glew was enlisted into the King’s Royal Rifle Corps in June, 1940 and served with the 2nd Battalion as a rifleman soon after. He served in the Middle East and was described as having ‘very good military conduct’.

Cpl Glew was issued with four war medals; the War Medal 1939-1945, the 1939-1945 Star, the Defence Medal and the Africa Star.

After the end of the World War, he was released to the Regular Reserve until he was discharged in 1952 after being declared medically unfit for further service.

Mr Low said: “It was sad to see somebody had thrown the medals away, even if by accident.

“After all he had done for our country, the least I could do was get them back to his family.

“If I didn’t, the medals would have just been destroyed but they are a part of our history.”