British Armed Services: Campaign Medals, and other Service Medals

Military Records Information 76

WO 329/2614, World War One Campaign Medal Roll

Contents

1. Campaign medals
2. Long service and good conduct medals
3. Commemorative medals
4. Replacing and claiming medals
5. Armed service medal office
6. Bibliography

1. Campaign Medals

Campaign or War Medals were awarded to members of the armed services, for taking part in a campaign or for service in time of war. Medals or Stars were awarded for a campaign or war (e.g. the Crimean War). Clasps were often added to the medal for taking part in particular battles within that campaign or war (e.g. Balaklava).

Information about the award of campaign medals is recorded on medal rolls. These are usually arranged by regiment/battalion (for the Army) or by ship (for the Royal Navy), then by rank, then name. Medal rolls do not give detailed information about individuals: they record the recipients' regimental/service number, and a note of the clasps to which he or she was entitled.

a) Before 1914

Before 1914, there are no indexes, so details about an individual can be difficult to find unless you know quite a lot about his service already.

b) First World War, 1914-1918

All servicemen of all services, some women, and some civilians, were eligible for one or more campaign medals if they served abroad. These records are the nearest we have to a full "roll-call" for the First World War. For more information, consult E Joslin, A Litherland and B Simpkin, British Battles and Medals (1988).

The medal rolls are variously arranged and accessed for each service. Search for and download First World War medal cards from DocumentsOnline. Access is free onsite at The National Archives.

i) Army and Royal Flying Corps

The Army Medal Office card index is in WO 372 . A card gives the soldier's name, corps (regiment), rank, regimental number, perhaps the first theatre of war served in, and date of entry therein, as well as other remarks, and of course the medals awarded. It also gives an original reference to the formal medal rolls in WO 329 . Advice on how to turn this into a modern reference is available at The National Archives.

The medal rolls in WO 329 give only one more piece of information than the card index - the battalion number. This can be important if you want to find the battalion war diary: see British Army War Diaries: First World War, 1914-1918.

ii) Royal Navy, Royal Marines and Royal Naval Air Service

The medal rolls are in several sequences. Entries in the medal rolls are in alphabetical order, so there is no need for an index.

iii) Royal Air Force

There are no medal rolls in The National Archives for men who joined after the formation of the RAF in April 1918, although they did receive the relevant medals. See W Spencer, Air Force Records for Family Historians (Public Record Office, 2000), Chapter 10.

iv) Abbreviations found in ADM 171

Interpretation of the abbreviations used in some of the medal rolls:

Comments and remarks:

Issued details:

c) Inter-war period, 1920-1939

Royal Naval and Royal Air Force campaign medal rolls are not in The National Archives. Write to the relevant Medal Offices: the addresses are given below. A number of campaign medal rolls for the army up to 1939 are included in WO 100 , pieces 398 to 410; these include service medal rolls for operations in Iraq, Africa and India. Microfilms of the original lists of campaign medals and award rolls submitted by regiments and units of officers and men for the interwar period 1919-1938 have recently been made available on the Catalogue under the reference WO 100/411-493 and are accessible in the Microfilm Reading Room. They include the General Service Medal and India General Service Medal.

d) Second World War, 1939-1945, and later

Campaign medal rolls are not in The National Archives. Write to the Armed Services Medal Office at the address given below.

2. Long Service and Good Conduct Medals

These medals were awarded to warrant officers, non-commissioned officers and other ranks. They were not dependent on having seen action.

3. Commemorative Medals

For recipients of the Jubilee Medal 1897; the Royal Victorian Medal 1901 (for taking part in Queen Victoria's funeral); the Coronation Medals 1901 and 1911, and the Delhi Durbar Medals 1903 and 1911, see WO 100 , WO 330 and ADM 171 . Rolls for the 1935 Jubilee, 1937 Coronation, 1953 Coronation and 1977 Jubilee, are available in The National Archives' Library.

WO 100/120, War Office Campaign Medal Roll, 1793-1949

Medals have been awarded for service in the Arctic between 1818 and 1855 and 1875 and 1876. Service between these dates included the search for the North West Passage and the searches for Sir John Franklin. The Polar Medal was introduced for Arctic and Antarctic exploration from 1904.

The National Archives' Library has a copy of The Polar Medal Roll (1902-1999), which includes alphabetical and chronological lists of awards, with National Archives references to the main sources in ADM 1 , ADM 171 and the London Gazette (ZJ 1 ).

4. Replacing and Claiming Medals

5. Armed Services Medal Office

Contact:

6. Bibliography

The following recommended publications are available in the The National Archives' Library. The National Archives' Library also holds medal rolls for all major wars.

(ri2296) Last updated: 10 March 2008 | © Crown Copyright 2006