A century after it was lost, a World War I medal has been returned to the family of the Aboriginal soldier it belonged to.
Adelaide man Mark Howard found the medal in his shed, then drove to Melbourne to make the special delivery.
"I always looked at the medal as not being mine," he said.
"My family didn't earn it; it needed to go back to where it belonged."
Mr Howard discovered the British War Medal by accident in a locked box that belonged to his father, who had run a hairdresser and gift shop in the Adelaide Hills town of Mount Barker.
He believed the box held pre-decimal coins he wanted to give to his grandchildren, but he could not get the lock open.
"So I ended up opening it with a reciprocating saw – butchered it," he said.
The medal was a surprise.
"I've got no idea [why it was in there]. There's 100 years of history missing on this medal," he said.
History and discrimination discovered
Cleaning and examining the medal took hours, but Mr Howard's efforts revealed a name and service number, then the realisation the medal came from an Indigenous soldier.
Alfred "Jack" Coombs and his brother Willie enlisted in 1916 and were both wounded on the Western Front.
Further research showed Mr Howard the extent of discrimination suffered by Aboriginal men when they returned to Australia.
"Reading what these guys went through, they weren't given recognition for what they did," he said.
"[They got] no block of land, no soldier settlement, no pension. I just want to do the right thing."
The next challenge was to find Jack Coombs's family, a task complicated by privacy laws and the lack of information about his descendants.
But Mr Howard eventually found relatives via the Swan Hill Lions Club, discovering that Jack's grandson was the notable wheelchair basketballer Kevin Coombs, Australia's first Indigenous Paralympian.
Family delighted at surprise find
A manager of Aboriginal health programs and long-time campaigner for the welfare and recognition of Indigenous Australians, Mr Coombs said the return of the medal was a touching gesture that reconnected his family to their past.
Mr Coombs was awarded an OAM for his achievements in wheelchair basketball and his contribution to Aboriginal welfare.
But even he faced discrimination in his life, as Aboriginal people were not considered full citizens when he first travelled overseas.
"I went away on an honorary British passport to represent my country, so that was pretty shameful," Mr Coombs said.
He said there was a continuing need to highlight the disparate treatment of Aboriginal soldiers.
"When you're at war, you're as good as anyone, as your mate, but when the war's over you come back and you're just another Aboriginal," Mr Coombs said.
He said recognition of Indigenous Australians in the constitution remained a priority to correct such failures, even if historical injustices remained.
"The old story was that if you went away in the first world war, you got a block of land. Well, we're still waiting for the land," Mr Coombs said.
Mr Howard said finding and returning the medal had been "an emotional journey", one he hoped would help recognise the sacrifices of Indigenous soldiers.
"It felt fantastic, like we completed the story of a medal 100 years lost," he said.
"I feel privileged I was allowed to play a part in it.
The older Mr Coombs died in the Victorian town Drouin in 1948.
