Athol's puzzle over mystery Shropshire memento
Years ago Bill Marchant gave his son Athol a reminder of his Shropshire roots – and created an enduring mystery.
Bill died 10 years ago at the age of 92 and Athol, who lives in South Africa, has no idea what the item is, apart from the fact that it is obviously connected with the King's Shropshire Light Infantry. Which only heightens the mystery, as his Shrewsbury-born father was not in the Army, but in the RAF, serving as air crew during the siege of Malta during the war.
Now Athol is hoping that some Shropshire Star reader might be able to tell him what the item is and some of the history behind it.
"It has KSLI on it, but it goes beyond the regimental cap badge by having the two curved swords, a pharaoh-like head, and what looks like a frog facing down with its front legs holding a clover leaf or a bow," he said.
After the war Bill was demobbed in South Africa, and lived there for the rest of his life.
"I have no idea how he obtained that item, but he was not a collector as such. It was always kept on the mantelpiece in his house when I was a child," said Athol, who has kept all his father's medals and mementoes, which include cycling medals for Mid Shropshire Wheelers.
"I also have his Spitfire MkIIIA clock which is still in pristine condition and keeps perfect time. He made the wooden frame for the clock."
Anyone who can help Athol can contact him at athol@telkomsa.net or, of course, drop us a line and we will pass the information on.
Bill was born William George Marchant in Shrewsbury on September 12, 1919, and Athol has various photos from his Shropshire days.
"He went to school in Shrewsbury but I can’t remember the school's name. He took us to Shrewsbury in the mid-1960s and to his ‘horror’ his school had been turned into a school for girls!
"He had told us about The Dingle gardens and took us there, plus all about the tidal bore on the River Severn. Then there was Clive of India – my blood line on my mother’s side – and my all-time hero, Charles Darwin. He played football in Shrewsbury. He showed me a picture of the soccer team of which he was the only one to survive the war.
"After school he worked there – in an electronic shop? – and then signed up at the start of World War Two for the RAF and was sent to Malta.
"Speaking to my sister, she has told me our father played football for Aston Villa, although I'm not sure whether it was a junior team or not, and that he had a friend called Arthur Medlicott who he visited when he went to Shrewsbury in the late 1960s or early 1970s. Maybe there are still Medlicotts living in Shrewsbury."
