I Finally Photographed my Grandfather’s World War II Medals.
PhilArnold
Posts: 194 ✭✭✭✭✭
I don't know why, but I've never properly imaged these war medals that had belonged to my grandfather* for his service in WWII. They've been in my possession for over 30 years now. I brought them out of storage recently and saw that they had toned up rather nicely. Although, it has to be said, these have definitely been cleaned. However, that's not unusual and indeed to be expected: the booklet given to veterans with the medals states you ought to polish them.
Corporal Norman Jerry, originally enlisted voluntarily in 1940 with the aim of getting into photography with the Royal Canadian Air Force. From what I gather from the service records I obtained from the Canadian Archives he spent a lot of time producing images for training purposes, and training other photography groups. He was shipped overseas in the lead up to D-Day to take images of the squadron. The exact nature I'm not sure but I was told some of it was reconnaissance.
Below is a service file photo I acquired from the Canadian Archives.
The awards are The France and Germany Star (a uniface medal), the Defence Medal, the War Medal 1939-1945, and the Canadian Voluntary Service Medal. The CVSM was engraved by Royal Canadian Mint master engraver Thomas Shingles. Shown in the order they were to be adorned from left to right.
*Technically he was my grandmother's second husband who she married in the late 70s. I still called him grandpa.
Phil Arnold
Director of Photography, GreatCollections
greatcollections.com
Comments
Outstanding! Your grandpa would be proud to see you trailblaze numismatic photography.
Fantastic images and wonderful write-up. Regardless of how he was your grandfather, I am certain there was a strong and obvious bond between the two of you. Thank you for sharing these.
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
What a family treasure!
Yes, your grandfather!
great images with a compelling story
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
Thanks, all. I elaborate more on his impact on my career in my interview in the March issue of The Numismatist. I’m sure I’ve posted this before, but this seems like a good thread for a repost.
Phil Arnold
Director of Photography, GreatCollections
greatcollections.com
Great posts
Great story and the usual images that are outstanding.
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
Nice, and nicely done, Phil!
I have this, in a similar vein. This is my maternal grandfather's WW2 deployment medal, issued by Champion Paper Company in North Carolina. (His father, my great-grandfather, was the cofounder of that company). This piece was discovered by a stranger in Savannah, who kindly tracked down my mother and sent it to her.
He's the great big tall guy at the center of this old newspaper photo from the time.
Here is Granddaddy as I knew him, in older age, at his mountain farm called Big Butte (which he insisted upon pronouncing "Big BUTT", LOL)
Collector since 1976. On the CU forums here since 2001.
Great story, LordM. You get a good sense of his personality with that last quip. Glad that stranger was able to get that medallion to your mom.
I have two other photos of my grandfather during the war. One that I also discovered in the Canadian archives. This is of the photography training course in early 1941. He’s second from the top right.
The other is a more dashing shot in uniform. Perhaps a self portrait?
I found a company in the UK that makes great / photo medal and displays, so I’ll be able to combine the medals and the service-member shot in the original post in one frame, and the shot above in another frame. There will be a third frame, the last being some of his photography work from his career after the war. He was a scientific photographer and worked at a research institute, specializing in nascent color photography. This piece called “Tiger Beetles” won second prize in a competition in 1952. Dye transfer color, cleaned up a bit by myself.
I’m going to put the 3 frames in my photography studio office at GC.
Phil Arnold
Director of Photography, GreatCollections
greatcollections.com