Amazing WW2 story behind bizarre garden shed discovery
THE Toowoomba man who found items belonging to a World War 2 veteran under his garden shed has tracked down the soldier's family.
Kevin Murray's search to return the ID tags of Irvine Fletcher, found while replacing his garden shed last month, ended when he met with Mr Fletcher's youngest sister Lorna on the weekend.
Mr Murray said he discovered more details about Mr Fletcher, including the fact that he actually enlisted for the defence force twice.
"She had some great stories - apparently Irvine really enlisted from Caloundra in 1940 but then went AWOL," he said.
"He ended up back in Caloundra and was working for a transport company when the military police came looking for him.
"They obviously did not have a picture of him as the transport company allocated Irvine as the driver.
"He drove them around to look for himself."
Mr Murray said Mr Fletcher then re-enlisted in 1942, resulting in the tag he found under the shed.
The Fletcher family actually appeared in The Chronicle's 2007 special liftout commemorating Anzac Day, which featured photos of brothers Irvine, Keith, Clive and Clarry.
The discovery has fuelled Mr Murray's desire to learn more about the history of his home.
"It has all given me incentive to go to the Local History section of the Library again next Tuesday to continue tracking down the history of this old house," he said.
