Canberra: It was during the re-modelling of a Canberra home that a long-lost World War II dog tag was found wedged behind a mantelpiece.
That piece of military memorabilia surprised the builder, who then went on to reunite it with a family that sees it as the missing link in their own wartime story.
"It's a very special thing for us," says granddaughter Toni McNeill.
Andrew McNeill moved to Canberra from Melbourne to help build the city's Old Parliament House, fell in love with a woman, called Ethel, and started a family. He enlisted in the Australian military in 1940, serving as a clerk of works in the 2/20 battalion and then the 22 HQ brigade.
Captured during the fall of Singapore, McNeill became a prisoner of war at a camp in Changi.
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He also worked on the notorious Thai-Burma railway.
"He lost something to like about 35, 40 kilos, which is a lot of weight," says his grandson Darrell McNeill.
Filling the gaps in their grandfather's story has been a lifelong wish. "As far as his war service, it was something he never spoke about," says Toni.
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"How it survived three years in a prisoner of war camp, around his neck with the humidity, where a lot of them didn't, so it's pretty amazing that it survived this long, 70 odd years," says Darrell.
It was found during the renovation of a Canberra home, the same home Andrew McNeill returned to after the war - and spent the rest of his life in.
The dog tag was discovered when the mantle on the fireplace was removed. "The electrician that was there recognised it was a dog tag and had picked it up, and that's when we realised we'd found something a little special," says the builder who worked on the refurbishment Robin McNeil.
The tag bore the same surname as renovating builder Robin McNeill, but the coincidences didn't stop there. Robin's father is also Andrew McNeill, making him the namesake of the tag's original owner.
Robin and Andrew set out to reunite the dog tag with the owner's descendants, enlisting the help of Australia's National War Memorial.
Eventually handing it over to Toni and Darrell. "To be reunited with it after eight months of searching by those people, that's an extraordinary effort and we're very grateful," says Toni.
A memento to be forever cherished and - like Andrew McNeill himself - never forgotten.
(AP)
