PEARSALL Thomas Gordon TX6060 B Coy [F Force]

ACT police recover Canberra man's stolen WWII memorabilia

From the Canberra Times – November 14, 2014

Prized mementos: War medals and a handwritten diary which belonged to Scott Pearsall's grandfather were among the items stolen.

Among Scott Pearsall's most treasured possessions were a handwritten diary and several war medals that told the story of his grandfather's journey as a prisoner of war in World War II.

That's why Mr Pearsall, a University of Canberra academic, was devastated to discover thieves had stolen the prized memorabilia when they burgled his Pearce home in May this year.

The haul included one of two prisoner-of-war diaries and medals that belonged to his grandfather Thomas Pearsall, who served in the military between 1940 and 1945.

Delighted: Scott Pearsall and wife Paul with precious war memorabilia recovered from thieves.

During that time, Mr Pearsall became a prisoner of war at Singapore's notorious Changi jail and later worked under brutal conditions on the Thai-Burma Railway.

Police found the memorabilia when they seized thousands of dollars worth of stolen items from seven properties across the ACT earlier this year.

Mr Pearsall and his wife Paula collected them from City Police Station in Civic on Friday.

He plans to transcribe the diaries so they can be published before he donates them and the medals to the Australian War Memorial.

"We were devastated when my grandfather's diary and medals were stolen as these were irreplaceable," Mr Pearsall said.

"I'm delighted that the diary and the medals, so dear to our family, have been recovered."

ACT Policing Crime Targeting Team detective senior constable Brett Katz worked on the case since May and said discovering the memorabilia and returning it to the Pearsall family was a good outcome following an "involved and protracted investigation".

"It gives you great satisfaction as a police officer to recover items which mean so much to people and ensure they make their way back to the rightful owners," he said