Fighting for health

Bringing joy I HAVE a confession to make, my collecting is not progressing as it should. I have this year purchased just four groups—one to a “Mussell” and three to men from Exeter. I do have a couple of bids on at Noonans, medals from the Peter and Dee Helmore Collection, but even if I am successful with both, that’s hardly an impressive total for an entire year and is not really what I consider “collecting”. The fault is entirely mine; I am too narrow in my parameters, too set on my themes; regular readers will know that in addition to my surname, I collect medals to men from “my side” of Exeter, but they simply don’t come up often enough. The main problem is that often biographical info that comes with a group only says “born in Exeter” (well it would, I can’t expect the dealer or auction house to know all areas of the city and to narrow it down for me) and it is then up to me to find out whether the part of Exeter referred to fits in with my theme. This isn’t easy if I am at a medal fair, so I have to wait until I get home and then I invariably forget, or if I do remember, I’ll find they’ve sold! It’s easier if I’m perusing dealers’ sites or auctions on-line of course, but even then, it requires me to do some serious digging, especially as Exeter was heavily bombed in the first Baedeker Raid in 1942 and a large number of the roads and parishes that are listed in the 1911 Census and before, simply don’t exist anymore, making my job even harder. So, what do I do? Do I broaden my scope and collect to all of Exeter, maybe the outlying villages too? I could but as I have mentioned before, I only really know my part of the city, so if I am to collect to the whole place then I may as well collect to somewhere entirely different. I have as much knowledge of Bristol or Birmingham as I do south of the River Exe (‘tis a wild and ungodly place down there) so it doesn’t really appeal. I had thought about collecting something more personal, but I have no real family connections to the services apart from conscripted service in World War I (Wiltshire Regiment mainly), and World War II service. My paternal grandfather was in the Royal Signals and served in Africa, Italy and the Far East, but they are a relatively new Corps and I’d like to go back further than just World War II if I can; and my maternal grandfather was on home service during the war, he was a Military Policeman in Warminster for a while, but I know little more than that. My Great Uncle jumped, and was captured, at Arnhem, but if you think my budget will stretch to Northwest Europe Airborne Forces groups I have news for you! So, if the family connection, apart from my surname, is out, and broadening my city scope is out too, what can I collect? Well, I have decided not to worry about it, I realised that in worrying so much about parameters and themes et al, I had actually lost sight of why I collect medals in the first place—I am a medal collector because I am fascinated by history, love the stories behind the medals and, most importantly, because I enjoy it. I enjoy the “hunt”, I enjoy the acquisition, I enjoy the research, I enjoy being the current custodian of these things, in short, I really enjoy the hobby and in restricting myself so much I have gone from enjoying it to it becoming something of a pain. Therefore, my New Year’s resolution is simple, I shall, from now on, collect whatever I feel like (and can afford, obviously). I won’t be weighed down by restrictions. If I like something, I will ignore my theme, ignore the “rules” and buy it, be that an odd combination, an unusual name, a particularly attractive group, whatever, it’s time I rediscovered the joy of medal collecting again! I will still collect to my “themes” of course, so do let me know if you come across any “Mussells”. I’ll also carry on collecting the whisky! I’ve found some real gems this year. And on that note, a special thanks goes out to Bill Nanny, you were right Bill, it’s delicious! Merry Christmas everyone, and a Happy New Year too!