Huge blow to New Zealand

[Chris Boonzaier]

I saw this link on WAF, thought some of the folks who are not there would find it interesting and terrible at the same time....

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4306566a10.html

What a blow to a nations heritage...

[Ed_Haynes]

This is incredibly disturbing!

Sounds like a theft-to-order of items that could never be sold.

Thanks for posting this, Chris, although I wish it hadn't happened.

Edited December 2, 2007 by Ed_Haynes

[Great Dane]

Posted this in another forum and would like to repeat it here (to keep the hopes up...):

Chances are that the thieves are just plain stupid.

Whenever a 'museum piece' of considerable value is stolen (be it medals, paintings, jewels etc) the theory of the 'evil collector' comes up, but according to authorities (at least here in Denmark) this is very rarely the case and is more a Hollywood thing...

In 9 of 10 cases the thieves are just plain stupid and think that everything that glistens is gold and can be sold off easily.

In the last couple of years we had the Order of the Elephant dies stolen and a targeted robbery for a Rembrandt painting from a museum. Both cases were solved and in both cased the thieves had absolutely no idea what they had stolen...

/Mike

[Kev in Deva]

Medals taken include:

* Samuel Frickleton, VC -- WW1

* Leslie Andrew, VC -- WW1

* Randolph Ridling, Albert Medal -- WW1

* Reginald Judson, VC, DCM, MM -- WW1

* John Grant, VC -- WW1

* Harry Laurent, VC -- WW1

* Jack Hinton, VC -- WW2

* Clive Hulme, VC -- WW2

* Keith Elliott, VC -- WW2

* Charles Upham, VC and Bar -- WW2

* David Russell, GC -- WW2

* Ken Hudson, GC.

I would say this was a well planned robbery, not much of an alarm system in use, if all they can say:

Museum staff discovered that several displays had been broken into, after the alarm was activated in an annex to the building sometime between midnight and 6am.

thats possibly giving the thieves a 5 hour head start!!!!

Families plea for return of Stolen Medals.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4307217a10.html

Kevin in Deva

Edited December 2, 2007 by Kev in Deva

[Guest Rick Research]

Speechless.

Again-- this simply illustrates the folly of "donating" treasure to places which are not safe, run by people who do not care.

Unsalable...

leaving us all to wonder--

thrown in the garbage in a rubbish bag, destroyed so the sub-cretins (watching TV, since they probably can't read) don't get caught...

or winging their way to Happy Putinia for some giggling nutjob James Bond villain-wannabe's rumpus room?

PLEASE keep us posted on developments.

This is national treason, not burglary.

[geoff]

Hi, I would just like to echo everybody else's comments and concern's on this thread.......I am totally shocked!!! Yes it's treason! and can only have been carried out to order.......I truley hope those responsible will be caught and the medals returned, somebody out there knows who did it and it will only be a matter of time, keeping my fingers crossed it's soon.

Best regards

Geoff

[JimZ]

They're bound to turn up somewhere some day.... one can only hope that they do and that when (really if) they do, heads will roll.

Till then this is a loss of such magnitude that one can hardly find words for.

Jim

[DutchBoy]

SICKENING!!

[PKeating]

Sadly, it looks as if they were stolen to order for someone. It does not sound like a burglary carried out by moronic trash who will throw them in the river when they find out that they can't offload them. This sort of thing was rife in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the UK. A lot of regimental museums were targeted, as were national museums like the IWM and National Army Museum. And some of the UK's top dealers and brokers fenced the goods. The internet has made it harder for thefts-on-spec, as it were, but there is still scope for professionals stealing-to-order for collectors who will keep the stuff for private enjoyment for evermore, as they don't need the money.

PK

[leigh kitchen]

And unlike some other stolen property, there's little chance these will turn up on ebay.

Theft for financial profit, the secret, guilty pleasure of hiding away in a little dark room & cuddling & stroking the awards, or to make a statement of some kind?

[ccj]

I agree with Rick, no reason to donate items to museums. I have heard horror stories as you all have about items being stolen, lost, misplaced, etc.

These are already in a collection by now. Ed is right, the job was commisioned...

[Ed Maroli]

Over the last several years I've had the pleasure of watching the the German pilots manequin at the USAF museum in Dayton, Ohio slowly lose its original badges to be replaced by fakes. One badge each year. ~Ed

[Kev in Deva]

Dear Ed Maroli,

why would you take pleasure in such a theft of museum property

and as such the history in these pieces being removed.

Better yet why have you not reported this if you know it is taking place

Kevin in Deva.

[PKeating]

I think he is probably deploying irony, Kevin. Mind you, many museums are guilty of theft themselves and the contents of most museums are heavily seeded with stolen goods. As for swapping genuine items for fakes, this was endemic in the Imperial War Museum in London as I was coming of age. The staff often aided and abetted when not doing it themselves. Such things went on in plenty of military museums, public and private. There was a theft on one occasion from a regimental museum in London and one of the groups that disappeared contained an example of one of the handful of GSMs with the Northern Kurdistan clasp awarded to Army personnel. Very, very rare and sought after. It ended up in the private collection of a very dodgy fellow - now dead - who bought it from a very posh London dealer with royal warrants all over their letterheads. This dealer was the first port of call for anyone with high end items of 'broken provenance', as the pinstriped gents there used to say with exaggerated winks. Many major dealers knowingly bought stolen gear, making museum theft viable. It is not as bad now as it was, thanks to the internet and the speed of exchange of information, but I am reliably informed that it still goes on. In short, lending or bequeathing things to museums is not the surest way of securing their future, as the theft of the New Zealand VCs reminds us. The thieves were probably acting to order and probably had inside help. And then, on the other end of the spectrum, there is the story of Pun VC and the Gurkha regimental museum. The museum still has his VC but it has been mooted that many of the valuable items in the museum's possession were put up as collateral against financing to develop ideas with a commercial potential to make the museum self-financing in the face of cuts in grants and so on. If they believed they owned it, fine. But the disturbing aspect of that story is the apparent failure on the part of the museum to produce documentary evidence to support their claim that Pun VC gave or sold them the medal. In the end, it seems, the most reliable custodians of historical artefacts, particularly in our field, would appear to be private collectors.

PK

[Ed Maroli]

The bit about "the pleasure" was meant to sarcastic. I appologize if that was not apparent to all those who would of read my post. As for the reporting of the theft, I believe the curator was caught trying to sell a $30,000 piece of US goverment property. This happened 5-7 years ago. ~Ed

[Ed Maroli]

Now that I'm thinking of it. I think the curator was caught in 2003 . It was the 100 year anniversary of the kitty hawk flight and when the goverment went looking for the engine block mold, it and many other items were missing. ~Ed

[Ed Maroli]

I know this is long, but read this and understand why things should never go to museums.

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE | By thievery, carelessness, or both,

America is losing artifacts of its aviation heritage.

The United States Air Force Museum once stored the aging wooden pattern

used to cast the engine that enabled aviation pioneers Wilbur and Orville

Wright to achieve the first powered flight in 1903.

It's missing.

Ten artifacts, ranging from camp regulations to a notebook, entrusted to

the museum from survivors of World War II prisoner-of-war camps.

Also missing.

Bombs, bomb fuses, guns, a "urine collection device" from the Apollo

program and a camera lens from the Gemini space program.

Missing as well.

A March 21, 2002, audit of the museum by the Wright-Patterson Area Audit

Office, obtained by the Dayton Daily News, reported that 1,000 items could

not be located. Auditors concluded the museum's personnel "did not always

effectively manage museum property."

It's not just carelessness, it's theft, said Albert Harris Jr., a former

museum worker who says he was punished when he blew the whistle.

"We witnessed, we watched it, we complained about it," said Harris, who

now works at the base library. "Thousands of artifacts are missing."

Investigators dismissed Harris' early complaints. But a later probe led to

the federal indictment this year of the museum's former chief of

collections, charged with selling an armored vehicle that he knew had been

stolen from the museum.

The artifacts' disappearance from the Air Force Museum, the world's oldest

and largest military aviation museum with 2 million visitors a year, is

coming to light as the community celebrates 100 years of aviation history

and the museum is erecting huge new buildings to hold its burgeoning

collection.

Maj. Gen. Charles Metcalf, the museum's director, said the number of

missing items has been reduced to 510.

Noting the museum maintains more than 57,000 items, Metcalf says, "This is

a low error rate for a collection this size."

But numbers alone don't tell the story.

Ken Hyde of Warrenton, Va., recalled borrowing the engine pattern for the

Wright Flyer several years ago to make three engines, including one he

placed in his reproduction of the 1903 Wright Flyer.

"They're priceless," Hyde said of the missing items.

According to the museum, the engine mold was deaccessioned (removed from

active inventory) to a restoration collection in 1997, and was reported

missing in January 2001.

Donald E. Kirby, 81, of Columbus, said the missing prisoner-of-war items

represented the men and women who were reduced to German property.

"I think any child looking at that would at least think that was kind of

important," said Kirby, who was held in a German POW camp for 18 months

during World War II. "That (artifact) was the person right there."

The official list of missing items also appears incomplete.

Three Russian-made 23 mm anti-aircraft cannons that auditors reported

missing in March 2002 are not on the list.

"These guns have not been located," the museum confirmed, and "in all

probability were turned into the Defense Reutilization/Marketing Office. .

. . However, full documentation has not been found to support this

action."

Nine other weapons that auditors could not account for also remain

missing, according to the museum, and the effort to identify them "has

been inconclusive."

The list also does not include the the Wright brothers' engine pattern.

Also confirmed missing, but not on the list, is a reproduction of the

Congressional Gold Medal awarded to the Wright brothers in 1909. The

original medal is at Wright State University.

Metcalf conceded that missing deaccessioned items, such as the Wright

brothers' engine pattern and medal, are not included among the 510 missing

items.

Asked how many items might be missing among the deaccessioned, Metcalf

replied, "We don't have a clue," citing unreliable paperwork.

"Two days ago, we found items that had been missing and they had been

shipped to a museum in Michigan and they're there," he said in a recent

interview. "But the records have not been updated."

Rules in place, but not followed

The audit is not the first of its kind.

A June 5, 1996, audit report determined "museum personnel did not

adequately manage the acquisition, registration and documentation of

weapons" or "establish accountability of historical property within 24

hours of receipt."

The 2002 audit says the person most responsible for the missing items is

the museum's former chief of collections, whom auditors said disposed of

museum property while bypassing required oversight. Scott A. Ferguson, the

former chief of collections, is under indictment in U.S. District Court,

charged with selling an armored vehicle in 1999, knowing it had been

stolen from the museum in 1996.

"It's quite obvious if you have a leak at that level, you could lose your

shirt before you knew it," retired Air Force Col. Richard L. Uppstrom, the

museum's civilian director from 1985 to 1996, said of the indictment.

The audit cites an Air Force instruction, signed by Metcalf on Nov. 25,

1996, that states, "No donated items of historic property of any type

(hardware, documentation, photographic, etc.) will be disposed of in any

manner without first being reviewed by the division responsible for the

items and approved for disposition by the Deaccession Committee.

"After Deaccession Committee approval, the director and curator must both

sign an Inventory Adjustment Voucher (IAV) prepared by Collections

Division personnel," the instruction notes.

Asked about claims that the committee had not met for years prior to the

2002 audit, Metcalf replied that the committee "is not a 'committee' in

the traditional sense. It is a body of individuals who provide

recommendations and oversight of proposed deaccessions through a formal

coordination process.

"Though this process has been in place dating back to at least November

1996, records of committee coordination prior to 2001, during the tenure

of the previous collection chief (Ferguson) do not exist. Paperwork

indicates deaccessioned items did not go through proper approval process,

having been signed off unilaterally by the collection chief responsible at

the time."

Chief of collections had little supervision

A list prepared by the museum shows thousands of items, ranging from

jackets and ribbons to trucks and aircraft, were deaccessioned during

Ferguson's tenure. Any records regarding oversight of this process, if

they existed, are nowhere to be found.

The chief of collections operated without much supervision, the auditors

noted.

Their review of 123 inventory adjustment vouchers, used to document

removal of museum property, found that 122 lacked proper authorization and

documentation, with some "signed by unauthorized personnel."

The lack of proper documentation, auditors concluded, "occurred because

the chief of collections did not follow established guidance and

procedures for the disposition of historical property.

"This situation went undetected because USAFM (Air Force Museum) personnel

had not established procedures for periodic internal reviews of

deaccession transactions.

"Specifically," auditors noted, "the chief of collections could

unilaterally complete and authorize IAVs, complete transfer papers,

package items for disposition and record association inventory

adjustments."

Auditors make no specific mention of Metcalf or what he did to enforce the

1996 instruction he signed regarding removal of museum inventory.

The museum, in a written response to questions from the Daily News,

concedes that "responsible management procedures and policies have always

been in place, but unfortunately not always followed. When reviews

indicated that problems existed, the museum took proper action by

requesting the investigations and audits that ultimately led to the

current criminal charges."

Since 2001, Metcalf said, the deaccession process "has been stringently

adhered to" and now requires quarterly review by the Materiel Command

History Office.

The museum denied the Daily News access to the museum's records, saying

that releasing information regarding the identity of people who obtained

museum property would violate the Privacy Act.

Soon after he became director in December 1996, Metcalf said in an

interview, he ordered Ferguson to "cease and desist" from selling military

items at gun and militaria shows.

Militaria are military collectibles, whose collectors buy everything from

radiation detectors and Marine swords to gas masks, Civil War bullets,

armored vehicles and aircraft.

Metcalf said he also told Ferguson that he "wanted him to disassociate

himself" from a man who often exchanged items with the museum and was a

museum contractor.

"It was one of those relationships, even if it was good, that gave you the

perception of not good," Metcalf said.

Whistleblower reduced to washing hospital dishes

Then came warnings from Albert Harris Jr., a former materials handler at

the museum who says the reported losses, often from thefts, don't begin to

scratch the surface.

The U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) confirms Harris reported his

suspicions about Ferguson in 1997 ? Harris said it was as early as 1993

that he reported his suspicions of thefts to his supervisor.

The OSC is an independent federal investigative and prosecution agency

that protects federal employees from reprisal for whistleblowing.

Harris said that shortly after he was interviewed by the Office of Special

Investigations (OSI), the Air Force's major investigative service, he was

retaliated against when his position was eliminated.

Harris said he was reduced to washing dishes at the base hospital after he

claimed to investigators that Ferguson was involved in the thefts.

In addition to thefts of artifacts at the museum, Harris said he saw

people cart off, before they were logged into the museum's inventory,

artifacts shipped to the museum from satellite museums during base

closings.

The museum confirmed that "logs have been and are being compared and

inconsistencies are being resolved" regarding this claim.

Highly collectible items go missing

In an Oct. 3, 2001, statement to the OSI, Harris described several

incidents involving museum property.

Harris stated, for example, that on a late Friday afternoon sometime

around 1996, Ferguson asked him to help him remove an M-60 machine gun

mounted on a helicopter because Metcalf said historically it didn't belong

on that copter.

After they removed the M-60, Harris said, Ferguson "told me that it was

late and he was not going to the vault (where guns are stored) and he put

the M-60 in his office."

Harris said it hasn't been seen since.

Metcalf confirmed Aug. 14 that he ordered the gun removed, but had not

heard Harris' claim of it being placed in Ferguson's office "until five

days ago."

Harris, however, reported this in his Oct. 3, 2001, statement to OSI

investigators.

A museum restoration employee, who asked not to be identified, said he saw

Ferguson and Harris remove the machine gun from the helicopter and thought

it strange because this was work normally "done by the restoration

division."

Metcalf said it was not possible to determine if the M-60 removed from the

helicopter is the same one that's missing because "there is no register of

what gun was taken out of the vault and put on" the helicopter.

"We don't know what that (M-60) went on, don't know what it came off

because the paperwork was not prepared in collections," Metcalf said.

A source close to Ferguson, who asked not to be identified, said the M-60

is now mounted on an armored vehicle at the museum.

Metcalf conceded the paper trail created by Ferguson's office is often

completely unreliable.

Paperwork has shown items removed from inventory that are still in the

museum.

Other records show "things that were certified as destroyed and they were

exchanged with a foreign government," Metcalf said.

And he pulled out a document to show some paperwork is postdated ?

recording, years after it occurred, a truck's disposal.

"The people who work in collections, along with the senior leadership,

absolutely feel violated," Metcalf said.

The museum was violated as well, Harris said.

On one occasion, Harris said, he and another employee visited the "vault"

where guns, swords, knives and other items are stored.

"It looked like a hurricane hit it," Harris said. "I was shocked. Stuff

was pulled out all over the floor."

Among items missing from the museum are guns, swords and knives ? items

normally stored in the museum's vault.

Harris said drawers full of pins and medals also disappeared: "They were

authentic. Not that replica crap."

Authentic World War II Nazi and Allied memorabilia, Harris said, are in

high demand at gun and militaria shows.

Harris said OSI investigators didn't bother to accompany him to the scenes

of the disappearances when he reported them.

Metcalf said the OSC probe "found no correlation between the disclosure

about Scott Ferguson and any adverse action" against Harris.

The museum eliminated three positions and "appropriate personnel

procedures were followed to place Mr. Harris in a position for which he

qualified," Metcalf said.

Claims of thefts deemed 'insufficient'

The OSC probe cleared Ferguson in 1999 of Harris' claims of theft. That

was about the time Ferguson was selling an armored vehicle that a grand

jury's indictment said was stolen in 1996 from the museum.

"To our knowledge, the investigations were complete," Metcalf said in a

written response to Daily News questions.

Travis Elliott, the OSC's acting director for congressional and public

affairs, said the OSC inquiry determined only whether Harris' claims

should be investigated. He said the OSC determined that they were

insufficient to warrant such a probe.

"The allegations have to be specific and sufficient in order for us to

refer it for investigation," Elliott said.

In a letter dated July 8, 1999, the OSC advised Harris that Ferguson had

been cleared of "your allegations of theft" and that Harris was not

entitled to whistleblower protection.

"Although you may have had a reasonable belief that at the very least Mr.

Ferguson was not following agency regulations for the transport of museum

artifacts, the evidence showed that you did not disclose your belief

regarding the incidents in 1993 and 1994 to anyone until August 1997,

after the decision was made to abolish your position," the letter states.

The OSC conceded in the letter that Harris' position was abolished after

he spoke with investigators.

"Additionally, although the timing of the decision to surplus your

position came relatively soon after your first OSI interview, there was no

evidence that Mr. Ferguson was angry with you because you spoke to the OSI

investigator, or that he believed you had accused him of theft," the

letter states.

The OSC also found Ferguson's discipline of Harris was reasonable.

"Given the past problems you had with leave and overtime and the fact that

Mr. Ferguson counseled you on the appropriate leave procedures to follow

six days before the last AWOL charge, his action does not appear to be

unreasonable or linked to any protected activity," the letter states. "The

evidence showed that your problems with leave and overtime began as early

as January 1997, before you had engaged in any protected activity

(reported his suspicions)."

Elliott said Harris can hire an attorney and file a case with the Merit

Protection Board if he disagrees with the OSC determination.

Harris said he is meeting with an attorney to see what action he can file.

Harris said he committed no wrongdoing and his transfer left a clear

message to other museum employees:

"You cause trouble, you rock the boat, you follow Al," he said of himself.

"And where did Al go? To the kitchen."

?A lot on our plate'

Within months after Ferguson was cleared of Harris' claims in 1999, a

researcher at the museum discovered some items missing and reported this

to then-registrar Krysta Strider, who is now chief of collections.

Strider said she reported the missing items to Metcalf.

She said a voucher executed by Ferguson showed that 85 items ? helmets,

daggers, pennants, goggles ? were sent to the National Air Intelligence

Center.

"We called the individual they were supposed to go to and he said he only

had 11 items," Metcalf said.

Metcalf said he ordered all 85 items returned by both Ferguson and the

center.

Asked if this happened other times, Metcalf replied, "Perhaps it did."

As for why it took so long to discover irregularities related to

Ferguson's records, Metcalf said, "We had a lot on our plate at that

time."

"In this hierarchy, I had a curator who was responsible for that

(supervising Ferguson)," Metcalf said. "What's he doing? You have to rely

on an organization to function."

Once the curator was removed "out of the direct line," Metcalf said "the

heat started increasing" and Ferguson "asked to be allowed to step aside

to another job" at the museum.

On Feb. 1, 2001, Ferguson became an acting supervisor in the museum's

research division.

Charles G. Worman, the museum's former curator, said if Metcalf had a

problem with his supervision of Ferguson, "he never told me about it."

"If he wants to use me as a scapegoat, fine," Worman said of Metcalf.

Worman noted he received a commendation medal, primarily for getting the

museum accredited, prior to his retirement in 2000.

The critical audit followed the incident regarding the 85 items that

triggered the OSI investigation leading to Ferguson's indictment.

Harris said this would have come much sooner had his warnings been heeded.

For nearly a year, Harris has been trying to get the OSC to give him

records related to his case so he can show he made his claims long before

1997.

But in an Oct. 9, 2002, letter to Harris, the OSC states that its Freedom

of Information Act officer left in July, causing a delay in response. "We

are recruiting a replacement as quickly as possible."

The OSC gave the Daily News a virtually identical response when it

requested the same files more than six months later on April 18.

Museum employees contacted by the Daily News about the museum's missing

items said they have been instructed to not talk to the media.

While not agreeing with Harris on every point, one employee said be

believes Harris, who worked at the museum from 1985 to 1997, "got a raw

deal in the way they dismissed him."

Harris said the museum remains "a world class" place where he is proud to

take his relatives.

But he said it has also lost "a lot of history. They want to keep it

quiet. They want to keep me quiet. They don't want this out."

On the contrary, Metcalf said the museum plans to assure donors who call a

telephone number ? (800) 881-5733 ? that "they, too, have not been

violated."

"The donors to the museum, our lifeblood, can rest assured that their

property is still here and secure," he said.

Contact Wes Hills at 225-2261.

[From the Dayton Daily News: 08.24.2003]

_________________________________

Edited January 15, 2008 by Ed Maroli

[Ed Maroli]

Here is his punishment from his appeal. ~Ed

http://www.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/06a0286p-06.pdf

[Ed_Haynes]

Interesting, maybe, but WAAAYYYYY

The basic point about museums still stands, I think, internationally?

[Brian Wolfe]

A sad and shocking story.

I will not go on a rant regarding museums, however (and he rambled on for pages), far too often items are donated that end up being surplus. Even items we would consider fairly scarce. Duplicate items are quite often stored away to be cataloged at a later date and forgotten. Forgotten that is until someone decides to "liberate" them.

I'd rather see medals in the hands of the private collector and featured on a forum such as this. Museums serve their purpose, don't get me wrong, but if I were to donate my humble collection it would be relegated to a box in the basement and never seen again. At least I bore our friends and family with my collection every chance I get.

Cheers

Brian

[PKeating]

I don't understand Ed Haynes' "off topic" remark. Everything posted here strikes me as very much on-topic.

PK

[Ed_Haynes]

I don't understand Ed Haynes' "off topic" remark. Everything posted here strikes me as very much on-topic.

PK

I'm sure you don't, Prosper. I'm sure you don't. Quite sure. And quite unsurpirsed.

Based on your boundless expertise, tell me what in the world a minor theft from the US Air Force Museum has to do with a theft of major items in New Zealand?

This important thread has been so far perverted that it is almost worth no longer caring about it?

A shame, a shame.

Edited January 16, 2008 by Ed_Haynes

[Chris Boonzaier]

Having no dog in this fight and assuming the whole thing is "Just for interest" as none will be offering them to me for sale...

I would say the one central theme is..... don't let your stuff out of your hands.... unless you are selling it....

[PKeating]

Let me rephrase: I do not understand the logic of your remark although I understand the meaning and intent. A discussion about the stolen New Zealand VCs is bound to evolve into related discussion because there have been no new developments in the case. Conversation is an organic thing. Ed Maroli has not "perverted" anything. You can bring the conversation back around to the New Zealand Stolen VC Affair but there is no need to to be unpleasant about it.

PK

[Ed Maroli]

FOUND

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story....jectid=10492853

Edited February 17, 2008 by Ed Maroli