Kiwi Medals

The 1939–45 Star was a campaign medal of the British Commonwealth, awarded for service in the Second World War. The medal was awarded for operational service between 3 September 1939 and 2 September 1945.

Army personnel had to complete 6 months service in an operational command. Airborne troops qualified if they had participated in any airborne operations and had completed 2 months service in a fully operational unit.
Air Force personnel had to participate in operations against the enemy providing that 2 months service had been completed in an operational unit. Non-aircrew personnel had to complete 6 months service in an area of (overseas) operational army command.
Naval personnel qualified if they completed 6 months service, and at least 1 voyage was made through an operational area.
Royal Observer Corps personnel for service of 1080 days.

There were a number of “Qualifying Special Areas” where operational service for “one day or part thereof” qualified for the special award of the 1939–45 Star. These were actions for which a more specific campaign medal was not issued. Examples are: France or Belgium: 10 May to 19 June 1940, St.Nazaire 22-28 March1942, Dieppe: 19 August 1942, Iraq: 10 April to 25 May 1941 and Burma (Enemy Invasion): 22 February 1942 to 15 May 1942.[1] The star was immediately awarded if the service period was terminated by death, disability or wounding. The award of a gallantry medal or a Mention in Despatches also led to an immediate award.

I have a few of these medals.

This entry was posted on February 14, 2010 at 10:45 PM and is filed under 1939-1945 Service Medals with tags United Kingdom, WW2. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.