A British Army veteran has been reunited with his war medal after it popped up in Calgary, nearly a decade after it went missing.
“I am over the moon to get my medal back after all this time,” Allan Marshall said in a statement on Wednesday. “This particular medal holds tremendous sentimental value as Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II personally presented the medal to me after my operational tour of Iraq."
Marshall, who lives in Belfast, discovered the badge was missing shortly after he was honourably discharged in 2006.
In October, a family member spotted the 2003 Iraq Campaign Service Medal on Arctic Medals website. The Calgary-based company had purchased the badge at an auction, and had no idea that anyone was looking for it, according to police.
“I am over the moon to get my medal back after all this time."
As soon as they were contacted by officials, they handed the medal over so it could be returned to Marshall.
"I want to thank members of the Calgary Police Service and Arctic Medals for helping me recover my medal," the veteran said.
“During this time of the year, and in light of recent current events, we all have to be appreciative for the valiant efforts and sacrifices of our young men and women serving overseas so that we can all enjoy our freedoms here at home and throughout the free world,” said Mike McMahon, owner of Arctic Medals. "I was very happy to be able to return this valuable keepsake to its rightful owner."
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