East Lothian news: Couple discover World War One medals buried under sand at Longniddry Beach

Century-old medals found buried underneath sand at East Lothian beauty spot

A couple discovered World War One medals on a beach in East Lothian.

Jillian Arrol, 44, and her boyfriend Robert were metal-detecting on Longniddry Beach, when they made the discovery. The first medal was found buried 10 inches under the ground, while the second was found minutes later – only ten metres from the other medal. Jillian said: “It was a nice surprise. You don't really expect to find anything like that on the beach”. Jillian, who has been metal-detecting for two years, said the medals are her most significant discovery to date, and added: “Usually we’re just cleaning the beach of bottle tops.”

After doing some research, the couple found that one of the medals is a Victory Medal, which was given to members of the British Armed Forces who fought in WWI in 1919. The other is an award for Proficiency in Mental Nursing. Both are engraved with the name of a soldier – Patrick Kilcoyne. Jillian has now made it her mission to return the medals to Patrick’s family. She said: “If we could pass them on to his relatives, that would be amazing”.