A woman whose dead partner’s military insignia were stolen has appealed for their return.

Claire Smith, of Meredith Road, Stevenage is distraught after her former partner, Aden Proudfoot’s parachute regiment ‘wings’ were stolen on a night out.

The 44-year-old teaching assistant had kept the RAF cloth uniform and gold-coloured metal beret insignia from Three Para in her purse after showing them to pupils at Camps Hill School in a lesson about Remembrance Day. But sometime during a night out at a social club at The Oval in the town on December 6 her purse was taken.

“I’ve got up the next morning and the entire contents of my bag were missing,” she said.

She thinks her bag may have dropped open in a taxi spilling the contents without her noticing. Her bank card was later used at a Stevenage ATM at around 2am.

Claire marked the third anniversary of Aden’s death from cancer, aged 45, on Saturday and said she desperately wants the mementos back.

“It’s for sentimental reasons - I’ve got no way of replacing them,” she said.

If you can help retrieve the insignia which were in a black Next purse with white stitching, which also included her driving licence, call Herts police on 0845 3300222.