Australian who found Private Sam's medals to visit Ipswich

If you ask a youngster in Ipswich who their hero is, you might hear any number of answers – we might expect local legends from Fabio Wardley to Ed Sheeran to feature somewhere on the list, or even some of our star Town players who have been doing us proud.

However, when Keith Stafford was a boy, there was nobody of whom he was more proud than his uncle, Samuel Harvey, a decorated war hero who served in the First World War.

Private Samuel Harvey was 34 when he found himself fighting for his country in the Battle of Loos. Image: Keith Stafford (Image: Keith Stafford)Keith Stafford grew up hearing stories of his war hero great uncle Samuel. Image: Keith Stafford (Image: Keith Stafford)

As a young man, Private Harvey was often in trouble, but when he found himself fighting in WWI, he showed that his courage was not to be underestimated.

During a battle known as the Big Push, ammunition began to run perilously low.

A Commanding Officer asked his men to volunteer to fetch more grenades - and Private Harvey stepped forward.

His mission was to collect large, bulky wooden boxes, each containing 30 Mills Bombs, and bring them to the battlefront.  

Making his way back through the trenches, teeming with the bodies of his fellow soldiers, the journey was long and arduous.

So, Private Harvey threw caution to the wind, and made the decision to run over open ground, exposing himself to extreme danger at every turn.

It took him 13 hours, but at long last, the grenades were safely delivered. Private Harvey took a bullet to the head in the process, but miraculously lived to tell the tale.

His valour was recognised with a Victoria Cross, presented to him by King George V.

After the war, Private Harvey fell on hard times. During the 1950s, he could often be seen sleeping on the steps of Ipswich Town Hall.

When he died in Stowmarket, aged 79, many of Private Harvey's medals were missing, and his family had given up hope of seeing them again.

However, Private Harvey’s proud nephew said that a stroke of luck saw some of the medals make their way back home all the way from Australia at long last.

Samuel Harvey being presented with his Victoria Cross by King George V and Queen Mary. Image: Keith Stafford (Image: Keith Stafford)Sam died in Stowmarket in 1960, aged 79. Image: Keith Stafford (Image: Keith Stafford)In 2014, a headstone was erected and a tree was planted in Ipswich Cemetery in memory of Private Samuel Harvey, to mark the centenary of World War I. Image: Newsquest (Image: Newsquest)

In 2014, the then-mayor of Ipswich, Hamil Clarke, planted a tree as a memorial to Samuel Harvey VC in Ipswich Old Cemetery. (Image: Newsquest)The headstone for Private Samuel Harvey VC in Ipswich Old Cemetery. (Image: Newsquest)

The family had spoken to this paper about their hopes to be reunited by the medal but little did they know thousands of miles away they were being kept safe by Jason Berryman.

Yet it was through an Ipswich brewery that the reunion process began.

The Briarbank Brewery, in Fore Street, produce a tipple known as the Samuel Harvey VC ale.

Mr Berryman contacted the brewery by email to ask if he could purchase a single beer label, as he had items in his possession belonging to the late Private Harvey.

The brewery put Mr Berryman in touch with Mr Stafford, and he was amazed to learn that Private Harvey still had living relatives.

Having a keen interest in war, Mr Berryman had purchased several memorabilia items from Private Harvey’s childhood home in Vernon Street during a house clearance in the late ‘60s.

These included various newspaper cuttings, French postcards Private Harvey had sent his mother, his Last Will and Testament – and eight miniature medals, which showed every honour he had ever received.

Being a former serviceman himself, Mr Berryman knew how important these items were for Private Harvey’s family, and gladly sent them to Ipswich from Australia.

Now, having kept in touch, Mr Stafford is excitedly preparing to meet Mr Berryman when he makes the journey himself in August.

“He had some medals we didn’t even know about,” said Mr Stafford. “Things like this put your faith back in human nature, and what a proper gentleman is.”

Despite having fairly bought and paid for the medals, he said that Mr Berryman’s only request in exchange for their return is a trip to Private Harvey’s grave to pay their respects – and a good old-fashioned English roast.