PAKISTAN -- Tamgha-i-Diffa, 1948--

[Ed_Haynes]

The Pakistani continuation of the general service medal tradition came in 1957 (after attaining status as a republic) when the Tamgha-i-Diffa (Medal of Service) was established by notification No.F.40(3)/Pres./57 of 16 March 1957, by the President of Pakistan. As with India, there had been pre-republic discussion of the medal, and a draft warrant and design - with the cipher of Queen Elizabeth II! - had been drawn up but was never instituted.

Obverse: A 36-mm circular copper-nickel medal. Star and crescent in the center, surrounded by a wreath. Above, the inscription in Urdu ?Khidmat-i-Pakistan? or ?The Service of Pakistan.? Suspended from an ornate straight-bar swiveling suspender and a clasp with the campaign relevant to the award; bars both in English and bilingual bars in Urdu/Bengali have been seen. The medal is rarely seen named. The medal has also been seen and reported in gilt, but this seems to be a totally unofficial modification. The ribbon is 33 mm, green, with central stripes of dark blue, red, light blue, edged with thinner white stripes. Green 7 mm, white 2 mm, dark blue 5 mm, red 5 mm, light blue 5 mm, white 2 mm, green 7 mm.

Reverse: Plain, open circle in the center.

Clasps:

1- Kashmir-1948 ? monolingual in English ? For the October 1947-1 January 1949 first Indo-Pakistani war over Kashmir.

2- Dir-Bajaur 1960-62 - monolingual in English ? For the suppression of "tribal" rebellions in the North-West Frontier Province

3- Kashmir 1964-65 - bilingual in Urdu and Bengali - For border clashes in Kashmir preliminary to the 1965 Indo-Pakistani War.

4- Kutch 1965 ? bilingual in Urdu and Bengali ? For border clashes in the Rann of Kutch preliminary to the 1965 Indo-Pakistani War.

5- Siachen Glacier in Urdu - For the ongoing Indo-Pakistani "confrontation" on the Siachen Glacier.

None of these are officially named, though a very few have unofficial naming.

Edited January 27, 2007 by Ed_Haynes

[Ed_Haynes]

Not lovely, but informational (with some nasty scans, sorry). The clasps, as shown above, 1-5.

[Dave Danner]

My two examples, finally scanned and uploaded.

Kashmir 1948:

Kashmir 1964-65:

[Laurence Strong]

Here are my contribution with 2 more to follow

Dir-Bajaur 1960-62

Edited March 25, 2007 by Laurence Strong

[Laurence Strong]

Kashmir 1964-65

Edited March 25, 2007 by Laurence Strong

[Laurence Strong]

Kutch 1965

Edited March 25, 2007 by Laurence Strong

[Laurence Strong]

Siachen Glacier

This one has been deemed to be a "Tailors copy" as it does not have the single claw on the medal like the others. I have the other kind on it's way and will post when it arrives along with a Kashmir 1948 which completes the set.

Edited March 25, 2007 by Laurence Strong

[Laurence Strong]

Well unfortuanatly the Saichen Glacier turned out to be another "tailors copy' so it's off to a new home. On the plus side the dealer was good enough to refund my money.

However my Kashmir 48 arrived and thus complete's this set......sort of

[Laurence Strong]

All my ducks in a row

[Brian Wolfe]

Hi Laurence,

Your "ducks" look great all in a row.

Sorry to hear about the Saichen Glacier Medal. Looks like we will both be looking for this same medal again. I am having some problems with medals from this dealer going astray lately but he has always been reliable in the past so I am hopping things will work out. It is good to hear that he has treated you fairly.

Good luck in the hunt for the, so far, elusive official issue Saichen Glacier Medal.

Cheers

Brian

[Brian Wolfe]

All my ducks in a row

Hi Laurence,

Here is a photo of my "ducks". Same tailor's copy Saichen Glacier Medal, we must shop in the same store!

Cheers

Brian

[1stgulf]

Hi Guys: help needed here. I recently received the Kashmir 48 with a swivel suspension, looks like the one pictured. I also received a Kashmir 1964-65, however the suspension was fixed, non-swivel?, is this consistent with your observations?, or perhaps you could let me know if some come fixed and some swivel suspension? which ones should be swivel and which should be fixed?

Thanks, Matt

[Brian Wolfe]

Hi Guys: help needed here. I recently received the Kashmir 48 with a swivel suspension, looks like the one pictured. I also received a Kashmir 1964-65, however the suspension was fixed, non-swivel?, is this consistent with your observations?, or perhaps you could let me know if some come fixed and some swivel suspension? which ones should be swivel and which should be fixed?

Thanks, Matt

Hello Matt,

The early ones, the Kashmir 48 and the Dir-Bajaur clasps have swivel suspensions.

The later issues, the Kashmir 64-65, Rann of Kutch and the Siachen Glacier have fixed suspensions.

My Kashmir 64-65 is with the Dir-Bajaur clasp so mine is a swivel suspension because of the double clasp.

I think you will find that as time went on and funding became tighter the quality slipped. Also later medals were probably made locally as in the case of the Siachen Glacier. I'm still looking for one that was not made by a local taylor and I'm sure Laurence will beat me to it.

I hope this is of some help and welcome to the forum Matt.

Regards

Brian

[gibbo]

Has anyone managed to get hold of this elusive original Saichen medal yet?...i have a copy of "Medals Catalogue of Pakistan" by Yahya Qureshi and Rafiq Kasbati and even the photo in the book does not have a full claw on the suspender? Are we sure that all in the series of these awards should have a full claw?

[Laurence Strong]

No I have another "tailors copy" to fill the set........

[Ehjaz]

Hi All,

There is a sixth GSM not included in this list, clasp SHAQMA - awarded quite recently, I have only ever seen one of these and will try to put a scan up on the site.

[vernon_kell]

I have been collecting Pakistani medals for some years and have never seen a so called original Saichen medal with the full claw - do we have proof that this exists..? Has anyone ever seen one..?

Or is the "soldered" fixing the official version..?

Love to see a scan of the new clasp by the way..!

Steve R

[Brian Wolfe]

I can only echo Steve's comment. As yet I have not seen any example except for the soldered attachment.

Even the resource material I have mentions nothing about a claw attachment. I guess until an example surfaces we'll have to assume that the soldered version is indeed the official issue.

Regards

Brian

[lone wolf]

Hi All,

There is a sixth GSM not included in this list, clasp SHAQMA - awarded quite recently, I have only ever seen one of these and will try to put a scan up on the site.

HI Ehjaz

we are waiting for the scan, I have contacted a source in pakistan but he is not aware of existence of any such clasp.

[Laurence Strong]

I too, would be interested in seeing it.

Larry

[Laurence Strong]

So would this be a correct layout, or should the Tamgha-i-Diffa have 2 clasps on it, instead of the 2 medals.....

[Laurence Strong]

And the reverse

[Laurence Strong]

Has anyone managed to get hold of this elusive original Saichen medal yet?...i have a copy of "Medals Catalogue of Pakistan" by Yahya Qureshi and Rafiq Kasbati and even the photo in the book does not have a full claw on the suspender? Are we sure that all in the series of these awards should have a full claw?

I see the Saichen Glacier in the bar just posted does not have a claw either,,,,,,maybe there never was one.

[Brian Wolfe]

A known expert on South Asian medals claims that when two medals are awarded that are the same that according to regulations only one is to be worn. However, this is not the first time I've seen two of the same medal mounted up in a group. The expert I am referring to has also said that anything can happen and it will, at least twice in India (Pakistan in this case).

It is my feeling that even though the regulations may say one thing veterans could have just about anything mounted up and who would say anything? I know of one Canadian (I'm sure there were others) who added a medal to his group as he felt he had earned it yet due to one thing or another his service fell through the cracks in the reulations.

As to the clasp with the "missing" claws, I would say that this was the only way they were issued. Let's go with that and stop looking for one. That way when I find one I can show it off here and be ever so smug about being the only one with one in his collection.

Seriously, even though it would seem to be the way they were issued lets keep looking and get one posted here on the forum, I really want one.

Good hunting.

Regards

Brian

[Laurence Strong]

Thanks Brian. :cheers: