India Service Medal

[Paul R]

How difficult are India Service Medal and 1939-1945 Medal mounted pairs to find?

[Laurence Strong]

It was awarded to the Indian Forces for three years of non-operational service in India, and replaces the Defence Medal, so I am wondering when they were issued the British Defense Medal....

Larry

[paul wood]

Paul

If you received the India Service Medal you were ineligible for the Defence Medal which is something those who make up fake groups tend to forget, there are a few cases, mainly to British attached to the Indian Army where both were received due to administrative errors. War Medal and Indian Service Medal pairs are not uncommon. I have a few named pairs in my collection, the cheapest cost me £15 a couple of years ago (probably an unnamed pair would cost as much). Gary Neate (Neate Medals) sometimes has such items.

Let us know if you get a pair.

All the best,

Paul

[Paul R]

Thanks guys! I want a pair that matches this ribbon bar. It would be cool to find his, but the odds of that are nil, I bet!

[jeffskea]

Hi Paul this is not exactly what you are looking for I know but I just picked up a 1939-45 Star,War Medal, India Service Medal to a Pte, J.A.F.(I) from a UK seller for a very reasonable price so they are out there and hope you find a nice set to go with your uniform.

Jeff

[paddywhack]

whats to stop you buying them seperatly and mounting them?both are pretty easy to pick up and are unnamed?

Edited December 19, 2013 by paddywhack

[Paul R]

I would love to see that set that you bought Jeff! It sounds like a really cool bar.

Paddywhack, how difficult are they to mount together properly?

[paddywhack]

pretty easy to be honest!il post a link of how to do it when i get home!

[jeffskea]

I will definitely post a picture when it comes in, it's a simple but very attractive looking set. I checked a few sites for some pairs for you with no luck yet but as paddywhack suggested there were plenty of singles of each, the India Service Medals can be found either unnamed or named it seems. May I ask what the cap badge is on the major's uniform? In my opinion I find that most Indian-related medal groups, especially to officers, would be court mounted, which for those two would not be overly difficult or expensive. There are some reputable mounters up here in Canada that would do nice work. Will check a few more sites for a pair, always looks better when they are the same condition and wear

Jeff

[paddywhack]

heres a good guide on how to do it off the british medals forum!

http://www.britishmedalforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=65&t=12964&hilit=court+mounting+guide

[Paul R]

Damn! Thank you for the great info guys!

[jeffskea]

Hi Paul, took awhile to come in but here is the set I had mentioned, the War and India Service are named to 1690 Pte D. Rozario J. A.F.(I), the 1939-45 Star is un-named. A simple but interesting set as the only operational service this man likely qualified for were the few short periods in 1940 and 41 on the N.W. Frontier of India. Did you have any luck finding the pair yourself?

Jeff

Edited February 4, 2014 by jeffskea

[paul wood]

Jeff are you sure the unit is not IAF rather than JAF, Private Rozario would have been of Goan origin.

Paul

[jeffskea]

The "J" is separate from the A.F.(I) by a few spaces, could it be the first initial perhaps? I've seen the surname D'Rozario is also fairly common. Would these be researchable at all?

Jeff

[paul wood]

As another rank unresearchable, were he a VCO or an officer good chance of getting something. Any chance of a scanning of the naming.

Paul

[jeffskea]

Here is the naming, I understand Indian medals were issued un-named though? Could these be later issues? Too bad they are unresearchable, thanks for the info Paul.

Jeff

Edited February 5, 2014 by jeffskea

[paul wood]

Jeff,

This is a common misconception. The medals were issued following the partition of 1947, those forces which went to Pakistan received their medals unnamed. Those forces that went to India received their medals named and yours are named in pukkah Indian style. Will revert back to the unit details soon.

All the best,

Paul

[Michael Johnson]

Rosario was undoubtedly serving in one of the Indian Railway regiments of the A.F.(I.)

Here are the India qualifying dates:

(iii) India and Burma Burma (Enemy Invasion) 22.2.42 15.5.42 Burma (First Arakan Campaign) (See Appendix A). 1.12.42 31.5.43 Burma (Brig.Wingate's Force) 7.2.43 15.7.43 Burma (Special Force, Generals Wingate and Lentaigne). 15.2.44 27.8.44 India (North West Frontier) (See Appendix B) { 3.2.40 24.5.40 { 18.6.41 26.8.41 { 28.7.42

18.8.42

Unfortunately the NZDF site doesn't give the appendices, but from an earlier mention I suspect that "Burma" also included parts of Assam and Bengal. The lack of a Burma Star makes the NWF more likely.

Michael

[paul wood]

I would concur with Michael on that.

Paul

[jeffskea]

Thanks Paul and Michael for the excellent information on naming and unit! Any idea what the "J" indicates?

Jeff

Edited February 6, 2014 by jeffskea

[paul wood]

I suspect that the J is due to the fact that Rozario had a double-barreled surname such as Rosario-Jaime and the second part was abbreviated for ease or speed of naming. Any other thoughts welcome

Paul

[peter monahan]

^{"J" for |"Junior"? Doesn't seem too likely, but you never know.}

^{Just looking in box of ribbon bits for some ISM ribbon, but sadly none appeared. You should be able to find it though. Maybe try OMSA?}

^Peter

[paddywhack]

^{ebay has a ribbon few lengths for sale!}

http://www.ebay.ie/i...=item4acf84bafb

Edited February 10, 2014 by paddywhack