Veteran offers medals for stolen plaque

John Irvin-Jones, 87, says the bronze memorial, stolen from a churchyard near Hull, means more to him than the five medals awarded from his Second World War service.

The plaque was one of 40 taken from the Garden of Rest at St James Church in Sutton, near Hull, where his wife Margaret's ashes are interred.

Mr Irvin-Jones said he hoped the thieves' fingers would drop off – but said his faith in human nature had been restored by neighbours, who rallied round within hours of hearing about the theft. In all 26 households chipped in yesterday to raise 68 towards a new plaque.

The widower, who joined the Merchant Navy when he was just 16, survived sinking by a mine in 1939, being torpedoed by a submarine three years later off Mozambique and being accidentally rammed by a Merchant Navy boat in 1945.

Mr Irvin-Jones, who lives on Hull's Bransholme estate, discovered the theft when he went with a bunch of flowers to mark their wedding anniversary. He said: "When I got there it was just a bare wall, it was sinful.

"To me it was somewhere I could go every birthday, every anniversary, every Easter, every Christmas and sit for a minute. I always take a bunch of flowers.

"I was married to Margaret for 54 years and there isn't another one like her in this world.

"To me she was the one and only – I never heard her open her mouth and say a wrong word about anybody."

While talking to the Yorkshire Post, a neighbour turned up, explaining he had done a collection at all the nearby houses.

Mr Irvin-Jones said: "It is nice - it has really touched me and made up for a lot of the sadness."

He and Margaret married in 1945 when she was 21. They had a son and two daughters.

After the war, Mr Irvin-Jones became a bobber unloading the trawlers on St Andrews Dock.

Mrs Irvin-Jones died on December 23, 1998, after a long illness.

The medals include the British Empire medal, the Italian Star and the Atlantic Star.

Humberside Police are investigating. Anyone with information is asked to call 0845 6060222.