[4] Sutton was submitted to the Mount Wilga Rehabilitation Centre, and during his time there he completed a six-year watchmaking course in two-and-a-half years at Sydney Technical College in Ultimo, New South Wales.

He already had an interest in military history when local war veterans asked him to repair or remount their medals as ANZAC Day's approached, his skill was noted and reputation spread.

A thriving international import and export mail order business developed, he also bought and sold rare coins, books, medals, swords and valuable military artefacts.

His reputation as a military historian was further established with the publication of books, including “Australian Awards Vietnam 1962 to 1991″ and numerous historical studies that were published in peer reviewed journals.

[7][8] Always a much loved figure in Summer Hill he became a local hero in 1982 when he recovered a Victoria Cross which had been stolen only minutes earlier from nearby St Andrews Church, where it had been donated and displayed.

Knowing there are few VC’s in private hands in Australia I knew where this one must have come from, it was stolen from a display case at St Andrew’s Church on Henson Street.

[7][8] Being confined to a wheelchair there was no suspicion at the time he was taking, he locked the VC in his safe, knew the medal would vanish forever on the black market if not recovered now and said no matter what happened there was no way he would have given it back to the thief.

“The young man turned when a constable placed his hand on his shoulder and I’ll never forget the shocked expression on his face,” Ross later recalled, “he never saw it coming and literally wet his pants.

[4] Sutton died on 22 July 2000,[1] just months before he was due to carry the Paralympic Torch on the final day of the relay in Sydney for the 2000 Games.