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Veterans' victory in hunt for standard
WAR veterans organising a ceremony in Sheffield to mark 65 years since VJ Day turned detective to track down an old standard which disappeared two years ago.
Fred Powell, chairman of the city's Joint Council of Ex Service Associations, and secretary Vince McDonagh, wanted to find the old Burma Star Association's banner in time for the event on Sunday August 15, which commemorates victory against Japan - then end of World War Two in the Far East.
Their efforts have now paid off and they have collected the standard from a relative of its former bearer, who was looking after it.
It had been removed from its old home in the Companion's Club, Barnsley Road, where members used to meet, after the club closed.
Mr McDonagh said: "Fred Powell and myself had been trying for two years to track down the standard.
"Fred had been ringing old members of the association and I had been sending letters to members of the Companions Club. We found out that when the club closed down stewards offered the standard to the cathedral.
"Lengthy enquiries revealed that the Cathedral Chapter had ruled they did not have the space for it, and the trail went cold."
The pair had almost given up hope when they found the address of former standard bearer Jack Hulse, on Skinnerthorpe Road, Fir Vale, using the electoral roll. But when they went out, they found the house had been bulldozed.
Mr McDonagh, a Royal Navy veteran who served in Cyprus in the 1950s, said: "Luckily, it had been quite a close-knit community. The people who still lived on the street made a few phone calls and we managed to find out where the family had moved to."
Mr Powell, aged 89, who spent four years in Burma with the Royal Signal, said: "The Burma Star Association used to be quite big in the city but disbanded due to lack of numbers. We discovered the standard was being looked after by Carl Overdale, who lives in Firth Park - nephew of the former standard bearer."
Around 100 people are expected at the VJ Day event at Barker's Pool war memorial, including a dozen Burma veterans. The service is at 1.45pm, followed by wreath-laying, led by the Lord Mayor.
The standard is now kept at the TA centre at Manor Top.
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Weather for Sheffield
Saturday 26 May 2012
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Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
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