A BELFAST woman who wanted to honour her friend’s legacy has managed to bring a set of Great War medals back to Fermanagh, with the help of a local historian.
Heather Loveday grew up next to a woman named Elizabeth Parker on the Donegall Road in Belfast. After Elizabeth passed away, Heather found a set of war medals belonging to a man named John Wray among her things. It is believed John was Elizabeth’s uncle.
Heather enlisted the help of Fermanagh historian David Keys, who managed to identify John Wray as a Brookhill man, from near Pettigo. He had signed up to the 9th Inniskillings in 1914 along with a number of neighbouring young men.
John was one of 16 from the Pettigo area who failed to return home from the Great War. He was 34-years-old when he was killed in Belgium in 1917. He is buried in Irish House Cemetery, near Heuvelland West, Vlaanderaen.
Speaking after the medal’s homecoming, Heather said she had been very fond of her neighbour Elizabeth, who she called Minnie.
“She took care of me when mum was working and always left money on the mantelpiece so I could buy sweets on the way home from school,” she recalled.
When Elizabeth passed away in 1980, the medals were among the possessions she left to Heather. She set about restoring them and finding out the story of their owner.
“I felt a great attachment to these medals and wanted them returned to the area where John Wray was born,” she said.
“I am grateful to David for uncovering the story of this brave young man and have asked him to add the medals to his collection so they can be put on display every Remembrance Day.”
David Keys said the discovery of the medals provided a tangible link to a tragic past.
“The medals were first listed as unclaimed and then issued to John Wray’s mother in 1927. It is thought that Elizabeth Parker was his niece,2 he said.
“The Great War took a terrible toll on the young men of Brookhill and it is fitting that we have something that reminds us of their sacrifice and can go on display at North Fermanagh Remembers events.”
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