Great War Medals

[bigjarofwasps]

Hi Guys,

I`d like to try and ascertain for what the British War Medal(s) where issued for post world war, during the 1919-1920 period other than mine clearance and Russia?

Also did soldiers, who deployed to France during this period as the army of occupation and or battlefield clearance quality for the BWM & Victory medals?

What was the latest date for issue of these medals & how long did a soldier have to serve in order to qualify?

Gordon.

[Ulsterman]

According to British Battles and medals, service in Serbia also counted from 1918-1919 the Black Sea and Caspian Sea.

There was (is) a HUGE thread about the in and outs of the BWM award ( e.g. given for service in India, but not with a victory medal therewith, Iraq etc. etc.)....at the Great War Forum.

[bigjarofwasps]

According to British Battles and medals, service in Serbia also counted from 1918-1919 the Black Sea and Caspian Sea.

There was (is) a HUGE thread about the in and outs of the BWM award ( e.g. given for service in India, but not with a victory medal therewith, Iraq etc. etc.)....at the Great War Forum.

Cheers mate, thats very interesting.

Have tried to log onto the Great War Forum, but have been unable to do so?

If you can help, I`d very much like to know more about the Serbia 1918-19 aspect.

Also whats the score with Iraq, was that covered by the BWM/Victory medal post 1918, but before the GSM came into existance....

[The Monkey God]

Cheers mate, thats very interesting.

Have tried to log onto the Great War Forum, but have been unable to do so?

If you can help, I`d very much like to know more about the Serbia 1918-19 aspect.

Also whats the score with Iraq, was that covered by the BWM/Victory medal post 1918, but before the GSM came into existance....

Had the same problem with the GWF, however have assess now and although I can`t find the thread Ulster refers to have posted a new thread, with the details `we` know, will post any relevant replies here. So fingers crossed & stand by................

[Ulsterman]

After you posted this I went to the GWF and snouted around. A lot of the threads from 2008-2004 ended up in the "archive" forum, where they await reassignment to the newer subforums. I couldn't find it.

I remember reading this thread because of the in-and-outs explained in great, if not legalistically tortuous detail, regarding who got what for service where, in the Indian subcontinent.

The GSM was issued for service in the Iraq campaign, but the BWM was given for service in India from 1914-18, but there was all sorts of inspired bloodshed that occurred on the frontier, the raids by KMS Wolf, U Boats, raids and sallies in the Iraq/Arabian areas...on the Afghan borders etc. etc.

I'm still looking over there.

[bigjarofwasps]

Obtained this information from a very reliable source, which I thought I should share....

Theoretically service in Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey after the armistance would not qualify as these were armies of occupation however there was fighing in Anatolia between primarily Indian troops (with British officers) in Turkey in 1919-20 so these soldiers may have qualified for a WW1 pair if they hadnt already. So soldiers in Istanbul may not have qualified but soldiers in Anatolia may have.

Futher complications come from the British forces in Transcaucasia (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia) as Azerbaijan in particular was under threat of Bolshevik attack and on one occasion at least that I know of an Indian Cavalry regiment actually fought an action against the Bolsheviks in Azerbaijan. "Russia" up to July 1920 was a qualifying theatre for the BWM and VM so potentially soldiers in Azerbaijan qualified but soldiers in Armenia which does not border Russia did not.

Its all quite theoretical and hard to tell either way as almost all of the soldiers who served in the Balkans and Black Sea 1918-19 had already qualified for a WW1 pair elsewhere.

The BAB&BS was considered "warlike" enough that New Years/Kings BDay MC's and MSM's were awarded for service there so I believe in most cases it was a qualifying theatre for WW1 pairs.