Hugh Grant offers large cash reward for blind veteran's missing war medals
Twitter to the rescue! Hugh Grant is trying to help a World War II veteran find his lost medals by offering a hefty cash reward on social media. The Florence Foster Jenkins star took to his Twitter page on Thursday to offer £1,000 (roughly over $1279) for the return of the precious medals, which belong to 95-year-old veteran Alfred Barlow of Manchester. On Friday, the reward was then quintupled, as the actor shared a post by the Blind Veterans UK organization, which stated: “We have £5,000 to aid returning those medals.”
Hugh Grant tried to help a vet find his medals through Twitter Photo: Twitter/@HackedOffHugh
“Thanks to other chipper inners,” Hugh wrote on Twitter along with the quoted version of Blind Veteran UK’s tweet, “£5,000 for those medals. Must be out there somewhere.” The 56-year-old actor also shared a link to an ITV News interview where Alfred tearfully expressed his extreme distress over losing the medals. He told ITV: “It's not just a piece of metal. It's recognition of what part I played in that invasion. They mean so much to me. I want to be able to pass them onto my grandson. I would say please, please return them to me.”
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Alfred served in the 3rd Reconnaissance Regiment and took part in the D-Day landings. The missing medals are: his 1939-45 Star, The France & Germany Star, 1939-45 war Medal and the Palestine Medal. The blind vet shared photos of his lost items, in an effort to retrieve them, through the Blind Veterans UK charity.
Alfred Barlow lost his precious war medals Photo: Twitter/@BlindVeterans
Alfred realized his medals had gone missing following a visit to Normandy, France with his wife and grandson. He believes he lost them at a service station near Walsall journey his return home on June 8. It is his 96th birthday on Sunday and he wants nothing more than the return of his medals. Saturday also marks the UK’s “Armed Forces Day,” making the mission even more important. Anyone with information as to the whereabouts of Alfred’s medals, is urged to please contact the Blind Veterans UK charity.
