BRITISH CAMPAIGN MEDALS

The Crimea Medal was a campaign medal issued to both officers and men of British army and navy units that fought in the Crimean War of 1854–56. The medal was awarded with the British version of the Turkish Crimea Medal, but because some were lost at sea, men may have received the Sardinian medal instead.

The ribbon has a pale blue centre with yellow edges.

There were five clasps issued:

- Alma – for the battle of September 1854

- Balaklava – for the battle of October 1854

- Inkerman – for the battle of November 1854

- Sebastopol – for the siege from September 1854. Those who received the Balaklava or Inkerman clasps were also awarded this clasp.

- Azoff –Naval expedition from May 1855. It was only awarded to Royal Navy personnel.

The Crimea medal has ornate clasps in the form of an oak leaf with an acorn at each end which are unique to this medal.

The Indian Mutiny Medal was a campaign medal for officers and men of British and Indian units who served during the Indian Mutiny. In 1868 the award was extended to all those who had borne arms or who had been under fire, including those of the Indian judiciary and civil service. Around 290,000 medals were awarded.

The ribbon is white with two alternating scarlet stripes each of equal width. The recipient's name and unit is given on the rim.

Five clasps were authorised, but each man only received four.

- Delhi – May 1857. awarded to troops participating in the recapture of Delhi

- Defence of Lucknow - June 1857. Awarded to original defenders of Lucknow, including the masters and boys of La Martinière College in Lucknow who helped with its defence.

- Relief of Lucknow - November 1857. Awarded to the second Lucknow relief force

- Lucknow - November 1857. Awarded to troops engaged in final operations leading to the surrender of Lucknow.

- Central India - January 1858. Awarded for service during the central Indian campaign, including to those who served in actions against Jhansi, Kalpa and Gwalior. Also to those who served in the Rajputana Field Force and the Madras Column.

The Queen's South Africa Medal was awarded to British and Colonial military personnel and civilians employed in an official capacity who served in the Second Boer War from October 1899 to the end of the war in May 1902.  Those who qualified for the medal included the army, Royal Navy, hospital nurses, colonial forces and locally raised units.

Three issues of the medal are known. Since the war was initially expected to be of short duration and to reach its conclusion in 1900, the first medals were struck with the years 1899 and 1900 on the reverse. Only fifty of these medals were awarded; the next issue used the same dies with the years machined off so they did not show the years. A third version was later minted again without the years. Around 178,000 medals were awarded.

Twenty-six campaign clasps were awarded with the Queen's South Africa Medal, but the maximum awarded to any one recipient was nine. The clasps fell into three groups: battle, state and date clasps.

Battle clasps were awarded for specific actions and campaigns. Recipients were not awarded both the "defence" and "relief" clasps for Mafeking, Kimberley or Ladysmith.

State clasps were awarded for service within a state, where no battle clasp was awarded. The Cape Colony and Natal clasps were not awarded together, but the Cape Colony clasp was awarded where a recipient qualified for both.

Date clasps were issued with the King's South Africa Medal but were worn with the Queen's South Africa Medal if the recipient was not eligible for the King's Medal.

The ribbon is a wide red band and a wide dark blue band, repeated in reverse order and separated by a wide orange band.

The King's South Africa Medal was awarded to all British and Colonial military personnel who served in the Second Boer War in South Africa and were in the war during 1902, provided they had completed eighteen months service in the conflict prior to June 1902. This service did not have to be continuous. The medal was always paired with the Queen's South Africa Medal.

Two clasps were awarded:

South Africa 1901 – For service between 1 January 1901 and 31 December 1901

South Africa 1902 – For service between 1 January 1902 and 31 May 1902.

The qualifying criteria meant that most King's South Africa medals were awarded both clasps. Those who qualified for the 1901 and 1902 clasps, but not for the King's South Africa Medal received the clasps with their Queen's South Africa Medal.

The ribbon has three a wide bands in green, white and orange band. The ribbon colours represent green and white for the South African Republic and orange and white for the Orange Free State.

Pip, Squeak and Wilfred

The three WWI medals comprised either the 1914 Star or the 1914–15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal and they were affectionally referred to as Pip, Squeak and Wilfred.

Pip, Squeak and Wilfred was a British strip cartoon published in the Daily Mirror from 1919 to 1956 and in the Sunday Pictorial in the early years. It was conceived by Bertram Lamb and concerned the adventures of an orphaned family of animals. Pip the dog assumed the father role, Squeak the mother was a penguin and Wilfred was the young son, depicted as a rabbit with very long ears

Pip was for the two Stars, Squeak for the British War Medal and Wilfred for the Victory Medal. If only the British War Medal and Victory Medal were worn together they were referred to as Mutt and Jeff after the newspaper comic strip characters.

1914 Star

The 1914 Star was also known as the Mons Star distinguished by its red, white and blue ribbon, representing the French flag. It was issued to British forces who had served in France or Belgium from the declaration of war to the end of the First Battle of Ypres. The recipient's name, rank unit and service number were impressed on the back of the medal.

Some medals have a horizontal bar on the ribbon which was inscribed 5th Aug.-22nd Nov. 1914 which distinguished those who served under enemy fire. When the ribbon was worn without the medal, a small silver rosette replaced the bar. There were around 378,000 issued.

1914-1915 Star

This medal is a campaign medal similar in style to the 1914 Star but includes the dates 1914-15 in the centre of the star. It was issued to all who served in any theatre of war outside the UK between the start of the war and end of 31 December 1915, except those who were eligible for the 1914 Star. Again the recipient's service number, rank, name and unit were impressed on the reverse. Around 2.4 million were issued to servicemen and supporting personnel of British and Dominion forces. Members of the Mercantile Marine qualified only when serving alongside the Royal Navy.

The medal ribbon is the same as that of the 1914 Star. Neither of these medals were awarded without the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

British War medal 1914-1920

This silver medal was awarded to officers and men of the British and Imperial Forces who served in a theatre of war or an overseas garrison soldier at any time during the war. The award was extended to cover service in 1919 and 1920 in mine-clearing at sea as well as operations in Russia, the eastern Baltic region, Siberia, the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea, and the allied intervention in the Russian Civil War.

The medal was also awarded in the event of death on active service and to members of the Women's Auxiliary Forces and staff of officially recognised military hospitals including the British Red Cross and Saint John who tended the sick and wounded.

For the Royal Navy and Royal Marines the criteria was twenty eight days mobilised service. The medal was presented to the next of kin of all casualties. It was was also awarded to the Women's Royal Naval Service, Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service and the Royal Naval Nursing Service Reserve.

For the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps which became part of the RAF on 1 April 1918, eligibility was broadly the same as for the British Army.

Merchant seamen qualified for the British War Medal in addition to the Mercantile Marine War Medal if they served at sea for not less than six months or had undertaken one or more voyages through a danger zone.

The recipient's service number, rank, name and unit were inscribed on the rim of the medal. Around 6.4 million were issued.

The ribbon has a central band of orange edged with white, black and blue lines.

The Allied Victory medal 1914-1919

The Allies each issued their own bronze victory medal. The back of the medal includes the words The Great War for Civilisation 1914-1919. To qualify for the medal, an individual had to have served in a theatre of war, not just overseas. The recipient's service number, rank, name and unit was impressed on the rim. Around 5.7 million were issued.

The ribbon consists of a double rainbow with red at the centre. The colours represent the colours of the allied nations. The rainbow supposedly represents the calm after the storm.

This medal was awarded to those who were members of the Territorial Force or Territorial Force Nursing Service on 4 August 1914 or members with four years or more service prior to 4 August 1914.

It was also awarded to those who volunteered prior to 30 September 1914 for overseas service and served outside the United Kingdom during the war. The ribbon is yellow with two narrow green stripes.  Around 34,000 were issued.

This medal was awarded by the Board of Trade to Merchant Navy personnel who had served at sea for at least six months or sailed on at least one voyage through a war zone. The back includes the words For War Service - Mercantile Marine - 1914-1918. Around 133,000 were issued.

The ribbon consists of wide bands of green and red separated by a thin white stripe representing the starboard and port lights with the masthead light in the centre.