Megan

Whose head is on the OSM?

Is this a 'dead tree' publication or is it available as a PDF?

The April 2024 issue of Soldier magazine has this:

New Medal: Hit or Miss?

A NEW medal that recognises deployments on operations such as Cabrit is in danger of being loved and loathed in equal measure by personnel, thanks to its qualifying criteria.

The Wider Service Medal recognises 180 days’ of aggregated service on certain qualifying missions that do not necessarily fall within the traditional medallic criteria of risk and rigour. The MoD announced it will limit the number of applicable operations to begin with but it will be expanded later. However, eligibility will stretch back only to December 2018, when Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II approved the idea of the award. Op Cabrit began in 2017, leaving a substantial cohort of British soldiers who were deployed out in the cold.

“I understand there has been a different focus on Eastern Europe since the Russian invasion of Ukraine but we faced the same threat and harsher conditions,” Maj Nicholas Hedges (Rifles), who served on the first Cabrit tour, told Soldier.

“Clearly the medal is very welcome but in my view it should apply to the deployment from day one – it should be all or nothing.”

WO2 Sam Coote (RLC), attached to 2nd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, added: “I think it’s a positive step forward as we face many different challenges and this will recognise ops below the usual threshold.”

Lt Col Nick Zorab, commanding officer of 1st Battalion, The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment, also believes personnel will feel encouraged overall.

“I served on an earlier Estonia deployment as a company commander and was struck then by how important medallic recognition was to troops,” he said. “We were deployed for nearly eight months and it’s right that sacrifices such as being  away for long periods are recognised.”

Lt Col Zorab said the qualifying criteria might prove divisive if soldiers on the first tours were ruled out, but he added: “You have to draw a line somewhere.”

Dang... more stuff to research!!!

I have both of those books as well. The pages in the original query do not come from either...

I still remember almost 20 years ago, I was attending a reception at the University of Durham and the head of the hospitality staff was wearing a miniture of the MBE. I sidled over and congratulated him on it and he almost burst with pride and delight that someone had noticed!

Having a long-lived monarch has been a bit of an issue... all these jubilee medals! That's given a lot of people a row of medals with no greater effort than staying in the job for a few years. Maybe the Victorians had the right idea - if you got the Jubilee Medal in 1887 and qualified for the next one in 1897 you got a bar to the 1887 one rather than a second medal.

To be honest I actually like the East German approach: whatever trade you engage in, there are medals for merit and long service for that trade. What do you think?

They are no more deserving than others who do not get such recognition - e.g., the letter carriers and refuse collectors who provide essential and often poorly-paid services to the public.

In many nations there are more general 'long service' awards that people who have spent a long time in ANY job are eligible to apply for, they don't even have to be in public service. Maybe that is a better route to go down.

And please moderate your tone. Your comment comes over as aggressive and dismissive of a thought you do not happen to agree with. This isn't antisocial media, it's a gentlemen's club

Wonder how obscure they intend to go with long service medals? Armed forces and emergency services make sense... but now it seems that everyone and his dog gets one!

Who's next? Civil Servants? Teachers? Refuse collectors? Letter carriers?

Anyone know where it sits in the order of wear?

Thank you... must have missed that due to hungry husband turning up looking for lunch!

Good looking medal. Read the article but am puzzled as to who gets Class 1 and who gets Class 2. Any thoughts?

Thanks for sharing, Ura.

Glad to be able to help.

Hi, Stogieman. The one on the black/orange/white ribbon is the Commemorative Medal for the 300th Anniversary of the Romanov Dynasty (Медаль в память 300 - летия дома Романовых), instituted 21 February 1913 and awarded to the nobility, members of the armed forces, and those who attended celebratory events at which the Tsar was present. Interestingly,  public servants, members of the Duma,  and priests could also wear it but had to purchase their own!

The other one is the Commemorative Medal of 100th Anniversary of Patriotic War 1812 (МЕДАЛЬ "В ПАМЯТЬ 100-ЛЕТИЯ ОТЕЧЕСТВЕННОЙ ВОЙНЫ 1812 Г") which was awarded to troops taking part in parades to mark said anniversary (who were drawn from regiments that had been involved in turfing the French out) and also to direct descendants of soldiers who had fought in that war.

I heard the announcement on BBC Breakfast and thought, "I bet BigJarof Wasps will have something posted on GMIC by now"... and here you are

Bittersweet. Fantastic that his courage is recognised, but so sad that he's not able to receive the award himself.

Interesting, thank you for sharing.

I just wish I knew... what little there is to be found about this is vague and contradictory! GRRR.

The UK has stated that there will be no awards of the Humanitarian Service Medal in regard of actions occuring before the date it was instituted, so that is unlikely - nice thought though it might be!

Be careful what you wish for! 🤓

Amazing collection - thank you for sharing!

Sometimes a minature of a lower class of an order is worn to indicate possession of a higher class of that order. Not sure if this was done in Sarawak, it's more of a European thing; and I'm not really into minatures anyway. The ribbon can be decorated with a rosette or other insignia to indicate this.

Use of a rosette and 'wings' are also commonplace on a ribbon bar to indicate the class of the order held.

A rosette and silver 'wings' as shown here conventionally represents a holder of the Commander or Third Class of a typical 5-class order.

It was awarded for 'service of information', so either gathering it (intelligence work) or disseminating it.

If you'd like any HQ versions of Saxon medals from my website, you'd be very welcome, Christophe.

Sounds interesting...

The author might find it worth exploring Print on Demand options as international shipping is so overpriced these days. A PDF version might also be advantageous, readilly sent direct to purchasers.