Canadian military history found among Goodwill donations going to museum

A surprise find in a collection of donations is resuscitating the memory of a man who served his country in war.

Nearly two weeks ago, a Goodwill location on Calgary’s Macleod Trail found several military service medals among the donations.

“At times there’s a lot of treasures that come across through the doors,” Daoud Abbasi, Goodwill brand coordinator, said. “This time we came through war medals.”

The war medals were from the First World War, the Second World War and the Korean War.

Among them were service medals for Drumheller-born Berkeley Albert James Franklin, also known as “Bark” or “Badge” to his brothers in arms.

“He enlisted with the Pacific Force and joined the 2nd Battalion PPCLI (Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry) in 1945, and retired as a chief warrant officer in 1970,” Cpl. Andrew Mullett said.

“So he had 25 years of service with us in the PPCLI.”

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And now, his medals will join other historical items in the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry Regimental Museum and Archives.

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“We had a young man come in yesterday and he basically said, ‘We’ve found these medals’ and he wanted to do something with them,” Mullett said. “He wanted to give them justice.

“It’s just a piece of metal, but attached to these medals are histories and stories of sacrifices made throughout our regiment’s history.”

The medals will go along with other insignia worn by Franklin during his service.

“Having his medals completes that set for us,” Mullett said.

The Canadian Army Pacific Force was raised in June 1945 to help in what was anticipated as the final phase of the campaign against Japan. After Japan’s surrender in August 1945, the Pacific Force was disbanded and weeks later, the 2nd Battalion, PPCLI, Canadian Infantry Corps was designated.

In August 1950, the Second Battalion of the PPCLI was formed as part of the Canadian Army Special Force, and in November of that year, sailed to South Korea to fight in the Korean War, which lasted until 1953.

“(The medals were) something of such a high prestige that people would either keep them for their families or for an historical site,” Abbasi said. “The military museum is a perfect place for them to rest, for not just our children but for people from all over the world to come and see.”

A ration book was also found at the Goodwill location, which will also be going to the museum.

“There are times we get things that are sitting in people’s attic (and) you just want to put it to the best cause,” Abbasi said. “We at Goodwill try to make sure that they find a better home.”