Detective seeks relatives of Australian WWII veteran after finding his war medals inside furniture

A former detective’s discovery of war medals hidden inside furniture he bought more than a decade ago has prompted a search for the relatives of a WWII veteran.

A retired police officer, who worked for Victoria police for more than 30 years, purchased the furniture at a garage sale in Doncaster in Melbourne’s east over 10 years ago.

But it was only recently that he found a set of four war medals inside the furniture, which are believed to belong to WWII veteran David Bruce Welsford.  

A former detective’s discovery of war medals hidden inside furniture he bought more than a decade ago has prompted a search for the relatives of a WWII veteran

The set of medals awarded to Mr Welsford for his service includes the Pacific Star, War Medal, 1939-45 Star and Australian Service Medal 1939-1945. 

David Bruce Welsford was born in 1924 and died in 2001, with his last known address being in Doncaster.

He was married to Lorrie Welsford, who passed away in 1999. 

It’s believed the couple never had any children but Ms Welsford may have had children from a previous marriage. 

The set of medals awarded to Mr Welsford for his service includes the Pacific Star, War Medal, 1939-45 Star and Australian Service Medal 1939-1945

Police have confirmed that Mr Welsford lived in Melbourne’s east and north-east his entire life.

The retired detective handed the medals into his local police station in Warrandyte last Tuesday.

Police are now appealing to the public to help locate Mr Welsford’s relatives. 

Anyone with information is being urged to contact Warrandyte Police Station on (03) 9844 3231.