(December 28, 2019 Vernon Morning Star) A Vernon couple is hoping to connect with the family of a Second World War veteran after finding his Memorial Cross medal in a discarded jewelry box.
Heather and Brian Neill didn’t quite know what they had stumbled upon when they found a jewelry box behind the Petro-Canada gas station on the corner of 43rd Street and 25th Avenue in Vernon some years ago. The wooden box was tipped on its side and contained only a few items, most of which appeared to be broken.
“Nothing really looked very valuable,” said Heather. (Photo: Clifford Bingham shortly after receiving his pilot's flying badge at Uplands) “But we brought it home anyway and then we took it to the RCMP and they said we’d be better off trying to find an owner ourselves.”
"Automatically we thought it had probably been stolen in a break-in or something like that, and whatever was most valuable in it was taken,” said Brian.
As it turned out, there was one valuable the alleged thief hadn’t noticed, and which the Neills themselves didn’t notice until years later.
One day Heather was looking through the box when a coin-sized metal cross caught her attention.
“I just noticed one day that it was not just a trinket,” she explained. “The cross looked like it meant something to somebody.” She then noticed what was engraved on the flip side of the medal:
F.O.
C.M. Bingham
J22033
After doing some research and getting in touch with Veterans Affairs Canada, Heather learned that she’d found a Memorial Cross bestowed to Flying Officer Clifford Marvin Bingham upon his death in 1943.
Bingham – son of Lieut. Col. William John Bingham of Winnipeg – had served in the Royal Canadian Air Force in the Second World War. He was 22 years old when he died.
Bingham was Commemorated at the Runnymede Memorial in Surrey, U.K.
The Memorial Cross – also known as the Silver Cross – is typically threaded with a purple ribbon. It is granted to the mother (if living) or the widow of a Canadian Forces member who died as a result of his or her service.
In an email to the Neills, Veterans Affairs said they could not to get in touch with the family the medal belongs to, since privacy legislation prevents the department from doing so.
The Neills made several attempts to find the owner of the jewelry box around the time they found it, to no avail. But having learned about the Memorial Cross, they’re hoping they’ll have better luck this time around.
“I can imagine it must mean a great deal to somebody,” said Heather. (Update: The Memorial Cross was returned to relatives of Clifford Bingham.)
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