A VETERAN has been reunited with his National Service medal after devastatingly losing it on Remembrance Sunday.

Tommy Wilson, 85, was heartbroken after losing his precious medal when visiting the war memorial in Southend Road, Hockley, to pay his respects.

The Hockley resident, who was stationed in Germany as a private in the army between 1958 and 1960, has now had the medal returned after it was found by a family.

Emily Smith, 32, and her partner, Reiss Thomas, 33, happened upon the treasured medal in Greensward Lane and made it their mission to return it to the owner.

With the help of the Royal British Legion branch, the medal is now proudly back in Tommy’s possession.

Tommy said: “My medal fell off the safety pin. I think it was a bit distorted. I didn’t notice it came off my jacket because I had my other coat on.

“Some kind person handed it in. Someone phoned up to tell me it had been brought into the Royal British Legion.

“Getting it back was like getting the winning goal at Wembley. There are some kind people about. They all cheered in the RBL when I got it back.

“I would love to meet the people who found to give them a nice box of chocolates and a big thank you."

Tommy added he has had a rough year so far after his wife and son passed away in January as well as battling cancer.

He added “it was nice to see good people still outweigh the bad”.

Emily said: “We just saw the medal on the floor on our way back home. We had no idea where it had come from or how it got there.

“We were really happy to hear he got it back. We were very worried at the time. It looked so loved and well-cared for.

“To actually lose it on Remembrance Day must have been awful. It’s really nice that it got returned. His family had told us he was devastated and passed on his thanks.

“If we had gone out to a service later in the day, we wouldn’t have found his medal. It was like fate.

“I would really look forward to meeting him, he’s one of our heroes.”