FALKLANDS WAR Argentina MERIT medal Argentina Congress ISLAS MALVINAS

[Gordon Craig]

Gentlemen,

I am seeking any, and all, information that anyone can provide me about these Argentine medals.  Specifically; 1-when were they authorized; 2-when was the first one awarded; 3-who made the medals; 4-how many were made; 5-did they come in a case or paper packet and what did it look like; 6-how many were awarded.  I have been told that the gold medal was awarded to officers and the silver medal to enlisted men.  Can anyone give me more information about those awarded/presented with these medals?

My thanks in advance for any assistance that forum members can provide.

Regards,

Gordon

 

[Paul R]

Very interesting.  I can’t wait to see Informed  feedback. 

[Gordon Craig]

Paul,

Thanks for your interest.  When I first started my research on these medals I only did it in English and not finding anything useful I started this thread.  Since I started the thread I did some searches using Spanish and had much more luck.  What I was told above is not correct.  There was only one class of medal issued for all combatants and it was the silver one.  The silver one issued is two sided like the Gold one.  I have found nothing on a silver one sided medal yet so research in this area continues.  There was a plan at one time to issue a gold medal for the 30th anniversary of the Malvinas campaign but I do not know if this was ever authorized by the government or not so research on the gold one continues as well.  The name of the medal in Spanish is Medalla "El Honorable Congreso a los Combatientes en Malvinas.  The medals were issued with the recipients name engraved on the reverse of the medal.  The original law states that the name should be on the onverse  but this does not appear to be the case in the named medals that I have seen pictures of.  They were issued in a black case .  A diploma was issued with each medal.  Here is the law authorizing the medal'

 

Law 23 118/84 

It was sanctioned on September 30, 1984, During the government of Raúl Alfonsín , promulgated through decree 3522 on October 31, 1984 and published in the Official Gazette on November 9, 1984.

Article 1. All those who fought in the war for the territorial claim of the Malvinas, Georgias and South Sandwich Islands, in the war actions from April 2 to June 14, 1982, with a medal and a diploma. The medal will be made of steel, on whose obverse they will wear the national colors and the name and surname of the combatant, and on the reverse the inscription "The Honorable Congress of the Nation to the Combatants". In the diploma the legend of the reverse of the medal will be recorded.

Article 2. The decorations will be of one and only class for all combatants in the war.

Article 3. The civilians and military officers who fought in the war, initiated on April 2, 1982, or in the event of death of the combatant, will be entitled to said decoration, their rightful recipients.

Article 4. The Ministry of National Defense shall remit the list of citizens to be honored, except those that are subject to sanctions in accordance with the requirements of the Code of Military Justice, the Criminal Code and / or its complementary laws.

Article 5.- The citizen who is not included in the payroll prepared by the Ministry of National Defense, in accordance with the preceding article, may request their incorporation, crediting credibly having intervened in the armed struggle for the territorial claim of the Falkland Islands, Georgias and South Sandwich, in the character of combatant.

Regards,

Gordon

 

[Rocket]

Hi Gordon,

 

I collect Argentine military medals and have a few contacts located in Argentina. I asked a fellow collector there about the 2 medals shown in your original post (I have both of these examples as well). He informed me that these medals are not "official" Malvinas War medals. He said the only official commemorative Malvinas War medal is shown below on the left. The official Malvinas War Combatants Medal given by Argentine Nation is shown below on the right.

 

Hope this helps.

 

John