A SEARCH is under way to find the descendants of a fallen World War I solider.
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Almost 100 years after his death, Ballarat solider Private George Bailey’s precious war medals were found buried in the backyard of a Creswick house.
Napier Street resident Neville Holmes was tending to his wife’s irises late last year when he dug into a secret trench.
“I could see bits of bottles and broken glass, so I kept digging deeper and deeper to see what was under there,” Mr Holmes said.
Underneath the layers of dirt he discovered the contents of an old medicine cabinet.
“There were tubes and tubes of toothpaste, combs, tooth-
brushes, a pair of dentures and medicine bottles,” Mr Holmes said.
“But something caught my eye.”
Hidden among the shards of broken glass, Mr Holmes caught a glimpse of what he believed was a pair of rusty coins.
“I looked at them and thought to myself, ‘These are worth holding onto’,” he said.
“I pulled them out and realised what they were. I was astonished.
“The medals were such a contrast to the rest of it.”
For a few weeks, the medals sat on a shelf in Mr Holmes’s house before he wrapped them and took them to Creswick RSL secretary Phil Carter.
Mr Carter said he was floored by the discovery.
“The hairs on the back of my head stood up,” he said.
“I get shivers talking about. “It was very emotional because once I looked on the side of the medals and saw a name engraved, I knew what he’d found.
“To find something like this is unheard of, it is just so special.”
Private Bailey was part of the 39th Battalion and enlisted in the war in Ballarat on April 12, 1916.
He was killed in a gas attack in a field in Messines, Belgium, on June 18, 1917.
He was 36 years old and had never married.
Following his death, his medals were presented to his bother Frederick, who lived at the Napier Street home with his wife Mary-Ann for most of his life.
Another of Private Bailey’s brothers, Charles, also served in the war.
There were another three brothers, James, Thomas and Joseph.
Mystery surrounds why the medals were buried in the backyard, and Mr Carter said it was likely the reason would never be known.
Members of the Creswick RSL have made it their mission to find members of George’s family and present the medals to them at the centenary Anzac Day service in Creswick on April 25.
It is hoped members of the family can wear the medals and march in Private Bailey’s honour.
Mr Carter said the discovery had stirred something inside all of the RSL members. The medals are in the process of being restored to their former glory in Ballarat.
He is appealing for anybody with information or links to the Bailey family to contact him on 0458 533 230.
melissa.cunningham@fairfaxmedia.com.au