A New Zealander in the Vietnam War

This is an interesting group, inscribed to Gunner H.H. Brass, RNZA (383606). Both the Vietnam War Service medal and the Republic of Vietnam are engraved. The RVN medal has the famous 1960- date on it. The intention was that the final date would be added after the victory over North Vietnam. Since South Vietnam was defeated there was no government around to establish the missing date.

The Vietnam War Service Medal was awarded to all members of the New Zealand armed forces who, between 29 May 1964 and 27 January 1973, either served for 28 days, continuous or aggregated, in ships or craft employed in operations on inland waters or off the coast of Vietnam or served for one day or more on the posted strength of a unit or formation on land in Vietnam, conducted one operational sortie over Vietnam or Vietnamese waters by aircrew on the posted strength of a unit allocated for direct support of operations in Vietnam or served for 30 days or more, continuous or aggregated, on official visits, inspections or other occurrences of a temporary nature on duty in Vietnam, or in ships or craft engaged in operations off the Vietnamese coast.

Service terminated by death or wounds, or the award of a decoration for gallantry led to the immediate award of the medal, regardless of whether the qualification period had been fulfilled.

Since the ROV medal was considered a foreign award by the New Zealand Government it was never approved for display on official occasions so this group has been mounted for Anzac Day wear I am guessing.

A Kiwi Korea Vet

This group is marked to 61235 Aircraftsman L.C. Hill, RNZAF and comprises the New Zealand Operational Service Medal, The New Zealand Service Medal 1946-49, the Commonwealth Korea Medal, the UN Korea Medal and the Republic of Korea War Medal. The ROK medal is a later issue as it down’t have the national symbol woven into the ribbon. This is an interesting set as the guy is clearly an early arrival into Korea and stayed until the end. The The OSM and Jay Force medals are named which is unusual for these things, leading me to believe that at least some of this group are official replacements as habitually they weren’t inscribed at the time but late issues from the 1990′s were.

A medal group for a lucky man

This medal group I picked up the other day from EBay. It belonged to a bloke J.S. Farquarson (Private 624746) and consists of the British Victory Medal, the New Zealand War Service Medal, The New Zealand Operational Service Medal and the New Zealand Service Medal 1946-1949. The group came with a stack of papers and photos detailing his enlistment in June 1942, subsequent deployment to Italy via Egypt in April 1945 (Just missing the war in Europe) and his final deployment to Japan in September 1945 as part of the British and Commonwealth Occupation Force (“Jay-Force”). He returned to New Zealand in October 1946 and was discharged. What a lucky guy, too late for a bullet every time. This explains why he has no campaign stars in his rack.

Africa General Service Medal 1902-1956

This medal was first instituted in 1902 for Campaigns on the African Continent, and was issued to British and Colonial Forces, The Medal remained in use for 54 years, the longest running British service Medal, Bearing the  effigy of Elizabeth 11 it was issued with the Bar Kenya for service during the Mau Mau Campaign, 1952-56.

My example is impressed to A.399 CPL.ONYAGA J.S/O OBOK.

The Mau Mau Uprising of 1952 to 1960 was an insurgency by Kenyans against British colonial rule. The core of the resistance was formed by members of the Kikuyu ethnic group, along with smaller numbers of Embu and Meru. The uprising failed militarily, though it hastened Kenyan independence and motivated Africans in other countries to fight against colonial rule. It created a rift between the white colonial community in Kenya and the Home Office in London that set the stage for Kenyan independence in 1963. It is sometimes called the Mau Mau Rebellion or the Mau Mau Revolt, and, in official documents, the Kenya Emergency.

The name Mau Mau for the rebel movement was not coined by the movement itself — they called themselves Muingi (“The Movement”), Muigwithania (“The Understanding”), Muma wa Uiguano (“The Oath of Unity”) or simply “The KCA”, after the Kikuyu Central Association that created the impetus for the insurgency. Veterans of the independence movement referred to themselves as the “Land and Freedom Army” in English.

General Service Medal 1918-1962 with Malaya Bar

The General Service Medal was instituted to recognise service in minor Army and Air Force operations for which no separate medal was intended. It was equivalent to the NGSM.

This particular example was awarded for operations in Singapore and the Malay Peninsula during the “Malayan Emergency”, a successful counter-insurgency operation against communist guerillas. The qualifying dates for service were between 16 June 1948 and 31 July 1960. For the Colony of Singapore, the date period was between 16 June 1948 to 31 January 1959.

The example I have is impressed to I0566 S/SGT IBRAHIM BIN SHUKOR F. of M.POL.

Hungary (Regency Period): Return of Southern Hungary Medal 1941

Hungary managed to regain some territory in its brief association with the Axis, mostly at the expense of it’s southern neighbours. In the case of this medal it celebrates the “liberation of Southern Hungary”, in actuality the award of Northern Transylvania as a reward for Hungary’s participation in the destruction of Yugoslavia.

France & Germany Star with Atlantic Bar

This is my stock France and Germany Star, in this case only notable for the additional Atlantic Bar.

The France and Germany Star was a campaign medal of the British Commonwealth, awarded for service in World War II.
The medal was awarded for operational service in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Germany from 6 June 1944 (D-Day) to 8 May 1945. The qualifying sea area is the North Sea south of a line from the Firth of Forth to Kristiansand (South), in the English Channel and in the Bay of Biscay east of longitude 6° west, provided such service was directly in support of land operations in France, Belgium, the Netherlands or Germany.

British uniform regulations stipulated that neither the Atlantic Star nor

the Air Crew Europe Star would be awarded to a recipient of the France and Germany Star. Subsequent entitlement to the Atlantic Star was denoted by the award of the Atlantic clasp. A clasp for the Air Crew Europe Star was not issued as that Star could not be earned after 5 June 1944.

Army personnel who entered Austria may not qualify for this award, as their service is recognised by the grant of the Italy Star.

Africa Service Medal

I have three examples of this medal. The first is impressed to 313971 M.L. Schultz, the second to 156658 B.S. Tinderholm (I have his War Medal also) and the third to 572811 J.Daitsh.

The Africa Service Medal was a South African campaign medal for service in World War II. It was instituted by King George VI, in his capacity as South African head of state, on 23 December 1943, and was awarded in addition to the British stars and medals issued for the war. The medal was granted to members of the Union Defence Forces, the South African Police, and the South African Railways Police.
To qualify for the medal, a member of those services must have volunteered for war service outside South Africa, and have served continuously for thirty days, or part-time for a total of eighteen hours, between 6 September 1939 and 2 September 1945. As the name indicates, the medal was originally intended for service in Africa, up to the defeat of the Axis forces in North Africa 1943, but it was later extended to cover service anywhere in the world, right up to the end of the war.
The medal is silver. The design was suggested by Field Marshal J.C. Smuts.

The obverse depicts a map of Africa, surrounded by the name of the medal in English, Africa Service Medal and Afrikaans, Afrikadiens-medalje. The reverse depicts a springbok prancing through the veld.
The ribbon is orange-red (the colour of the shoulder flash worn by South African volunteers), edged in green and gold (the “springbok” sporting colours, which were adopted as the defence force colours).
World War II ex-servicemen referred to the ribbon of this medal as “Ouma’s Garter”. “Ouma” (i.e. “Granny”) Smuts was the wife of the South African World War II prime minister, Field Marshal Jan Smuts. The nickname was a tribute to her unstinting efforts to supply the South African troops with home comforts.

1914-1918 Victory Medal

I have an orphan example of this medal as well as quite a number in groups. They are all the British Empire pattern. The orphan is 23937 Pte. G. Stevens R.W. Kent.

The Victory Medal (also called the Allied Victory Medal) is a campaign medal – of which the basic design and ribbon was adopted by Belgium, Brazil, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, France, Greece, Italy, Japan, Portugal, Romania, Siam, Union of South Africa and the USA.
The medal was issued to all those who received the 1914 Star or the 1914-15 Star, and to most of those who were awarded the British War Medal – it was never awarded singly.

These three medals were sometimes irreverently referred to as Pip, Squeak and Wilfred. To qualify for the Victory medal one had to be mobilised in any service and have entered a theatre of war between 5 August 1914 and 11 November 1918. Women qualified for this and the earlier two medals, for service in nursing homes and other auxiliary forces.
It was also awarded to members of the British Naval mission to Russia 1919 – 1920 and for mine clearance in the North Sea between 11 November 1918 and 30 November 1919.

The 1914-1920 War Medal

The British War Medal was a campaign medal of the British Empire, for service in World War I. I have quite a number of these in groups, mostly family medals and four that are orphans. The orphans are as follows, 778839 Spr. J.W. Ayling C.R.T., 285005 L.Cpl. W.G. Darby, 12/3934 Pte. E.T. Allcock N.Z.E.F., 97361 Pte. A.R.Cooper L’Pool R.
The medal was approved in 1919, for issue to officers and men of British and Imperial forces who had rendered service between 5 August 1914 and 11 November 1918. Officers and men of the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, and Dominion and Colonial naval forces (including reserves) were required to have completed 28 days mobilised service – the medal was automatically awarded in the event of death on active service before the completion of this period.
The medal was later extended to cover the period 1919-20 and service in mine-clearing at sea as well as participation in operations in North and South Russia, the eastern Baltic, Siberia, the Black Sea, and the Caspian.
Some 6,500,000 medals were awarded in total, of which 110,000 were bronze. These bronze medals were mostly issued to Chinese, Maltese, and Indians who served in labour battalions.