Mr Oliver, an ex-Australian Army soldier, said the medal, a 1914-15 Star, was found among his great-uncle’s war medals.

The medal belongs to Private Thomas Scougall, service number 3180, who served with the 10th Reinforcements 12th Battalion of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF).

He was 18 years old, single and working as a labourer when he enlisted for service.

The 12th Battalion was among the first infantry units raised for the AIF during the First World War.

It was raised within three weeks of the declaration of war in August 1914 and embarked just two months later.

From his research in online military records, Mr Oliver believes his great-uncle, William Henry Way, may have served with Private Scougall in a battle at Polygon Wood, Belgium.

Mr Way was killed in action in the battle by an artillery shell on September 20, 1917.

It was only when Mr Oliver was studying his great-uncle’s three war medals recently that he realised one belonged to someone else.

“I looked on the back and it had someone else’s name on it,” he said.

Private Scougall was not related to Mr Oliver’s great-uncle, so how all the medals came to be together is a mystery.

The back of the medal is inscribed with Private Scougall’s service number, name and battalion.

Mr Oliver has established that Private Scougall was born in Zeehan in Tasmania on December 1, 1896, but can’t find a record of his date of death.

Private Scougall’s parents were William Drysdale Scougall (1854-1926) and Isabel (nee Henderson) (1868-1937).

Mr Oliver also discovered that Private Scougall’s parents moved to Waratah Street in Lithgow some time during the war.

Private Scougall was seriously injured in battle in July 1916, but continued fighting before returning to Australia aboard the Warwickshire in May 1919.

Along with the 1914-15 Star, Private Scougall received the British War Medal and Victory Medal.

Mr Way’s war medals were passed down through the family until Mr Oliver inherited them.

Mr Oliver, who is not sure if Private Scougall’s medal had always been included with his great- uncle’s medals, is hopeful that with the centenary of the Anzac landing in Gallipoli looming, the rightful owner of the medal can be found.

“That medal was directly related to Gallipoli – he [Private Scougall] would have potentially been there,” he said.

“His unit was in Gallipoli, so it is highly likely he would be there in some capacity.”

Mr Oliver hopes the medal will be a keepsake for Private Scougall’s descendants.

“To me, it would be very important. Being an ex-military family, medals are very important.”

Mr Oliver can be contacted at PO Box 842, Bathurst, 2795.

The 1914-15 Star was established in 1918 and was retrospectively awarded for service in a prescribed theatre of war between August 5, 1914 and December 31, 1915, where a prior entitlement to the 1914 Star did not exist.

Australians who took part in the capture of German New Guinea in September 1914 and Australians who served in the Gallipoli campaign were entitled to the 1914-15 Star.