Rare wartime medal earned by Pembrokeshire woman returns to county
The tale of brave Beryl Schaerer Morse, who assisted shot-down airmen to escape over the frontier of neutral Switzerland came to light when her rare wartime medal was donated to the Pembroke Dock Heritage Centre.
Mrs Schaerer Morse, who was born in Pembroke Dock in 1887, was one of only 2,500 recipients of The King's Medal which was awarded in the early post-war years.
King's Medal recipient Winifred Beryl Gwladys Schaerer Morse. (Image: Pembroke Dock Heritage Centre)
She was the daughter of Mr and Mrs Thomas Harrison Morse who lived in Pembroke Dock and later in Tenby.
When later living in London, she met a Swiss banker, and they were married in 1913. She lived the rest of her life in Switzerland.
During the war years she was, according to newspaper reports, head of an organisation which assisted shot down British and Allied airmen to escape over the Swiss frontier.
Mrs Schaerer Morse's granddaughter, Therese Burckhardt, recently visited Pembroke Dock and was directed to the Heritage Centre. She was delighted to find that the archive team was very keen to display the medal and tell her grandmother's story.
Mrs Schaerer Morse's granddaughter, Therese Burckhardt, is pictured at Pembroke Dock Heritage Centre with family friend Penny Tighe of Pembroke and Heritage Centre trustee Peter Mitchell. (Image: Martin Cavaney Photography)'It was a joy to have such a welcome and to know that the centre would take the medal into its collection. It is so important to me that the medal returns 'home',' Therese said
Mrs Schaerer Morse's King's Medal - one of only 2,500 awarded. (Image: Martin Cavaney Photography)
'My grandmother was very proud of her Welsh roots. Her father built a bungalow in Broadwell Hayes, Tenby, where my grandmother lived until she left for Switzerland, and family members spent many summer holidays there.
'I have fond memories of visits to Tenby, playing on the sands with my brother Roland.'
Therese added: 'Grandmother introduced us to Wales, and she expressly wished to be buried at Llanion Cemetery, Pembroke Dock, near her father. I well remember attending her funeral at Llanion in 1967.'
The King's Medal, instigated in 1945 by King George VI, was awarded to civilian foreign nationals who had given meritorious service to further the interests of the British Commonwealth or the Allied cause. Uniquely, Mrs Schaerer Morse had dual British/Swiss nationality.
Research is continuing both in Switzerland and the UK to discover more of this unique wartime story, which Pembroke Dock Heritage Centre will feature in an exhibition in 2026.
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