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Armed Forces: Medals

Answer

The Ministry of Defence has a long-standing policy not to issue commemorative medals to service personnel other than for Royal Coronations and Jubilees. Since the end of World War II, the Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals (known as the HD committee), which is responsible for recommending to Her Majesty The Queen on the award of new medals, has a consistent and well-established policy that it will not consider the belated institution of awards and medals for service given many years earlier. The reason for this policy is that the present HD committee cannot put itself in the place of the committee which made the original decision and which would have been able to take account of the views of all interested parties at the time. In addition, if an exception were to be made for one case, then it would be almost impossible to refuse to reconsider every other claim for the retrospective institution of an award or medal. There were no medals awarded purely for service in a particular command during World War II. Those who completed the minimum qualifying period of service in operational areas were eligible for the 1939-45 Star and those with long service in non-operational areas received the defence medal. In addition to the 1939-45 Star and defence medal, a series of campaign stars were created for participants in particularly hazardous campaigns, and many Bomber Command personnel qualified for the much prized aircrew Europe Star or, for example, the France and Germany Star.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

886; 716 c189-90WA

Session

2009-10

Subjects

Air force Medals Military decorations World War II Bomber Command

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk