This is the second story which comes from my husband – I thoroughly recommend you read the other one: ‘A True Story’.

My husband is from Glasgow, home of the famous market called ‘The Barras’. If you have never heard of it, The Barras is a very well known market which has been there a very very long time! You can get just about anything there although I hear it is a lot different now compared to how it was in my husband’s childhood. If you are interested in knowing more, I found a website all about it: https://www.barrasmarket.com/history

Our story today took place in 1964, when my husband was 10 years old. He ofen went there but on this particular day he went to the Barras with his dad, his uncle and a cousin. They walked around and looked over all the trinkets and goodies on offer. When they came to a table full of military ware, the young boy’s (my hubby) eyes lit up – this was his favourite stall.

Picking through the various items, from hats, pictures, belts and other military treasure, one thing stood out – a military cross medal. The youngster picked up the medal and examined it, he couldn’t believe he was holding a real military cross medal that had been awarded to a real soldier.

As his father looked at the medal he asked the stall-holder, “how much are you selling that for?”

“£2”, was the reply, at which point his dad reached into his pocket to get something which he then threw onto the table.

The young boy looked closer and saw his father hadn’t put money on the table but his own military cross medal.

His dad looked at the stall-holder, “make sure you sell this for £4 – this medal is for the dead not the living”, then he walked away.

My husband’s dad had served in the British army at Aiden and had told nobody about receiving that miltary cross – the first they all knew about it was seeing him give it away to a stall-holder at the Barras.