By Luke Voogt
A long-lost Geelong premiership medal of the 1931 team’s longest-surviving member has reappeared – inside a screw top jar in Northern Ireland.
The jar had held Milton Lamb’s medal after Billy Mc Areavey, now 74, found it somewhere in central Belfast around two decades ago.
His brother, Seamus, 72, told the Indy from Ireland that he rediscovered the medal while talking to Billy two months ago.
“I told him my wife and I were going to visit her cousin in Werribee this Christmas,” Seamus said.
He was then showing Werribee on a map when Billy pointed out Geelong.
“I asked him what he knew about Geelong and it was then he told me about the medal.”
Billy was unsure exactly when or where he found the medal.
The only clue to its origin was an inscription: ‘Geelong F.C. 1931 M. Lamb’.
Seamus took the medal to a police station where a disinterested officer took Billy’s details, Seamus said.
“I think the policeman probably had more important things on his mind then.”
Fascinated by the find, Seamus began researching Milton Lamb.
“I found out that Milton trained as an engineer and was a navigator during the World War II. He then worked for Coles in a management position until retirement.”
William Milton Lamb played four years with Geelong. He died in 2006 aged 96, the last surviving member of the 1931 premiership side.
“I said to Billy, ‘It’s a pity I never found out about the medal before he died’,” Seamus said.
“I’ve found out so much about Milton that I feel that I know him. He must have been a remarkable man.”
Seamus contacted the Indy for help after a fruitless search for Lamb’s relatives.
The Indy tracked down daughter Vivienne Reed, who was flabbergasted the medal had been found.
“He always wondered where that had gone,” she said from Melbourne.
The 71-year-old recalled her father speaking of the flag with pride.
“He’ll never forget going back by train in 1931 and all of Geelong was there to greet them. That was one of his most amazing memories.”
Vivienne was stumped how the medal ended up in Belfast, saying she had no memory of her father travelling to Ireland.
“He always thought he just lost it along the way somewhere but he was a bit vague about it. It was something he was very proud of but then life moves on.”
Seamus said he would give the medal to Vivienne when he travelled to Australia.
