A FORMER prisoner of war whose medals were stolen in a burglary had a huge surprise when his friends and family presented him with replicas of the World War Two-era medals on his 99th birthday.
Les Attoe, who celebrated his birthday on Tuesday, was greeted by friends and members of Barnsley Parachute Regimental Association (PRA) at a surprise gathering in the Mayor’s Parlour at the town hall.
He was presented with the medals by his son, helped by Mayor of Barnsley, Coun Steve Green.
“It was a huge surprise,” said Les, of Cherry Tree Court, Goldthorpe.
Les, originally from Bow in London, was living in Kent when the medals were burgled from his home.
Paratrooper Les, who spent 14 months in Stalag 4B in what is now Brandenburg, Germany, could never afford replicas.
“We tried to come up with a bit of a surprise,” said fellow PRA member Vic Hanson, 73. “It was all secret, I told him we had a presentation with the mayor for our charity work.”
