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History enthusiast finds historic WWI medal in his backyard

"At first I just thought 'oh blimey, it's an old penny,'" he said.

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Steve Perry found a WWI medal while gardening for his mother Patricia Perry. (Emma Trimble via SWNS)

By Athena Stavrou via SWNS

A keen gardener was stunned to find a historic WWI relic while planting a tree in his backyard.

Steve Perry, 69, a war history enthusiast was delighted to have uncovered a forgotten war medal in his own garden.

While planting a tree in his elderly mother's garden in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, England, on September 25, Perry hit his shovel on something hard.

"At first I just thought 'oh blimey, it's an old penny,'" he said.

"But then I saw the loop in it and thought I should clean it up to see - it was completely black at first but it cleaned up really well.

"I took it to my workshop, washed it under the tap, buffed it up and put metal polish on it.

"I could see it was some sort of army medal from WWI, I could see the army number and the name H Crouch on it."

Perry did some digging in a book by a local historian and found that the recipient of the medal was not only a prisoner of war, but also went on to become town councilor and town mayor.

Prior to his conscription, he was a baker, and sadly died in 1947 at the age of 54.

According to his mother Patricia, 90, there used to be an Italian prisoner of war camp in the area their estate was later built.

It is thought that Harold Crouch helped out at the camp, welcoming prisoners home, checking on them and could have dropped his medal whilst doing so.

Steve Perry found a WWI medal while gardening for his mother Patricia Perry. (Emma Trimble via SWNS)
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"He must've been a nice bloke and done his best to look out for them," Perry said.

"It was a civilian medal, so he must've helped in the Ministry of Defense or something - about five and a half million were given out throughout Britain and the commonwealth I believe."

The history enthusiast coincidently visited Normandy only last month to see the infamous WWII battlegrounds.

Perry is using social media to track down relatives of Harold Crouch, but if he remains unsuccessful the medal will be donated to Tewkesbury Museum, where he volunteers.

"I'm surprised my late father didn't find the medal himself, he loved his garden and made me promise to keep it nice," he said.

"My mum is in the early stages of Alzheimer's, but it's been amazing to hear her speak about all these memories in such details.

"She said it was waiting for me to dig it up, it was meant to be.

"It's mad to think if I hadn't have planted that tree it might've been there for another hundred years, who knows."

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