Jump to content
News Ticker
  • I am now accepting the following payment methods: Card Payments, Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal
  • Latest News

    Operational Service Medal - Service in Afghanistan 2002 to 2004 Type


    Guest Darrell

    Recommended Posts

    Guest Darrell

    The following medal was awarded for Service in Afghanistan during 2002 thru 2004. After that date the same medal was issued but with some differences in both the Clasp and naming.

    A little background on the medal:

    Qualifying criteria

    The award of this medal is complex; depending on length and area of service:

    To qualify for the clasp, personnel must have either 5, 21, or 30 days continuous service between various dates, depending on the operation, for example between 11/09/2001 and 1/08/2002, or for a period later specified, on Operation Veritas, Operation Fingal and Operation Landman.

    To qualify for the medal without the clasp depends on service of varying lengths on operations, for example operation(s) Landman, Oracle Ramson or Damien. Alternatively the medal is awarded for service in other middle eastern countries during specific dates. Pakistan, Oman and Qatar to name but a few.

    Medal

    The medal is silver and circular in shape and designed as follows:

    Obverse shows the crowned effigy of Elizabeth II.

    Reverse bears the Union Flag, surrounded by the inscription 'For Operational Service' and the four major points of the compass, with four Coronets: Royal (top left), Naval (top right), Mural-Army (bottom left), and Astral-Royal Air Force (bottom right).

    Clasp

    The "Afghanistan" Clasp is awarded for service specifically in Afghanistan.

    Rosette on ribbon denotes clasp when no medal is worn.

    There are two types of 'Afghanistan' clasps to date, the first initial issue from 2002-2004 the clasp had a smooth background behind the writing and from Op Herrick onwards (2005 to present) the clasp has a 'dappled' effect behind the writing, just like the 'Northern Ireland' clasp on the 1962-2007 General Service Medal.

    The medal is issued without the clasp for service outside Afghanistan in support of ongoing operations, i.e. Pakistan and Oman.

    Naming

    The naming came in two styles to go along with the time period. up to 2004 with impressed capitals, post 2004 with lazer engraved capitals.

    Ribbon

    The ribbon consists of a broad central red stripe, flanked each side by a stripe of navy blue and one of light blue, to represent the three services, with an outer stripe of light brown, to represent the Afghan landscape.

    The medal shown below is the earlier type awarded up till 2004. As such it has the smooth background behind the Afghanistan on the clasp and the Impressed capitals in the naming along the rim.

    This medal came with an issue box and the envelope that held the rosette to be attached to the ribbon bar.

    This medal was awarded to PTE M L FISHWICK of the RLC (Royal Logistics Corps).

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Guest Darrell

    Depends on how and where they were stored. Patina develops quick rapidly on silver in certain areas.

    Mother used to have silver spoons that would tarnish in 1 years time.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Guest Darrell

    The laser engraving method tarnishes the medals. common on Iraq's too.

    Cheers

    Chris

    Chris, this is the first series of the medal. These were impressed not laser engraved.

    These issue medals were silver, the Iraq / gulf war medals were cupro-nickel. The "tarnished" look from the laser engraving were in fact "burn" marks made by this process.

    Below is an example of the effects of "laser" engraving on an Iraq medal.

    Edited by Darrell
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    It is still a good looking, solid looking, distinctive medal. Quite different to the post 70s Australian medals. Cupro-nickel certainly doesn't tarnish much and is an attractive finish. I have seen one set of UK/Australian medals (W.O. transferred to the Australian Army) remounted in the correct Australian Order and the jeweller had the silver coloured ones rhodium (?) finished to make them all shiny and new looking. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when the W.O. picked them up !!

    Greg.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Guest Darrell

    It is still a good looking, solid looking, distinctive medal. Quite different to the post 70s Australian medals. Cupro-nickel certainly doesn't tarnish much and is an attractive finish. I have seen one set of UK/Australian medals (W.O. transferred to the Australian Army) remounted in the correct Australian Order and the jeweller had the silver coloured ones rhodium (?) finished to make them all shiny and new looking. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when the W.O. picked them up !!

    Greg.

    It is interesting why these medals were silver, yet the Gulf War and Iraq medals were Cupro-nickel.

    But i agree, I love the Silver medals (just look at my pets the Victorian).

    Much better than most anything Canada has come up with over the last 20 years - those god awful rhodium plated monstrosities ....

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Create an account or sign in to comment

    You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

    Create an account

    Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

    Register a new account

    Sign in

    Already have an account? Sign in here.

    Sign In Now
    ×
    ×
    • Create New...

    Important Information

    We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.