Stolen from his Penshurst home in 1970, Mr Flood's medals were in February discovered in a draw at the Orange sub-branch of the Returned Services League's Anson Street home, setting in motion the search for his family so the medals could be returned.

Initially, the RSL's Brad Bliss and Orange Ex-Services' Club board member Ros Davidson believed the medals may have been the family property of fellow OESC board member Terry Flood but he said that was not the case.

However Terry Flood's curiosity led to him linking with the National Archives' William Edwards to learn more about Private Flood, who served for four years, mainly in New Guinea before discharge.

"I said to Ros [Davidson] let me have a look at them," Mr Flood said explaining once he had Private Flood's identification, or NX number, which was with the medals, it was a matter of working with the National Archives in Canberra.

He then picked up the phone book.

Almost 30 calls later, Mr Flood, an OESC board member since 2014, made contact with Private Flood's eldest son Robert, who was at first sceptical.

"It's something that's forgotten and gone," Rob Flood said. "Then Terry phoned me and started stirring this up... I thought come on mate, you're a hoax."

The critical question was when Terry Flood asked Rob his father's date of birth with neither man wanting to give up the information easily.

"I said to him, mate, you've got the paperwork, you tell me," Rob Flood said but in the end he relented.

"I said it was the 14th of July 1922, he'd be 100 this year, bingo. The phone went quiet and I thought hello, this bloke's got those medals."

Terry Flood, who was on speaker phone to the Silverdale-based Flood family, said he was touched by the moment the connection was made.

"His wife was there and there were a few grandkids running around. I asked him a few other questions and it started to tie together.

"I said to him, mate, I don't want to pre-empt anything but I've got your dad's medals. Then there was silence and I heard one of the kids say Nanna, why's poppy crying?

"That kinda says it all."

Rob Flood, who visited Orange with his younger brother Graham last weekend, admitted he did get misty-eyed during that phone call, and then again when receiving the medals.

Ronald Flood died in 1991 after a battle with cancer. He was 69.

Terry Flood said nobody knew how the medals ended up in Orange.

"They could have come up in cabinet, maybe somebody got a guilty conscious ... we don't really know," Terry Flood said.

Before presenting them to the family, the OESC had the medals mounted along with Private Flood's papers.

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