The Silver War Badge, sometimes referred to as the Discharge Badge, Wound Badge or Services Rendered Badge, was first issued in September 1916 in the United Kingdom and throughout the British Empire to service personnel who had been honourably discharged from military or naval service due to wounds or sickness as a result of their service during the First World War. The badge was accompanied by an official certificate of entitlement. If a person served in an active war zone, then a King's Certificate of Discharge stating that they Served with honour would be issued with the badge.
The badge was a sterling silver lapel badge. A royal cypher was in the centre, topped by a crown and badge was inscribed with the words For King and Empire - Services Rendered.
It was intended to be worn on civilian clothes on the right breast. When the decoration was introduced, it was seen as a reward for loyal war service; but in the early years of the war it was usefully recognised as identification of a military man and this helped prevent white feather brigade intimidation.
During WWI, women (mainly) took it upon themselves to confront and embarrass men of fighting age who were in seen in public places without a military uniform. The women wanted to present them with white feathers, suggesting cowardice.
A substantial numbers of servicemen had been discharged because of wounds that rendered them unfit for war service. It was not always obvious from their outward appearance that they were wounded or sick, so wearing the badge, which was large enough to be plainly seen, was a means of discouraging that type of action.
It was prohibited to wear the Silver War Badge on a military uniform.
Each badge carried a unique number on its reverse side. The War Office maintained a register which recorded the name of the serviceman issued with the badge in the United Kingdom, and the indivicual unique badge number. The governments of New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Canada and Rhodesia maintained their own registers of issue, although these were copied to the War office thus enabling a master record to be retained. The Silver War Badges issued by the Empire nations had their identification numbers prefixed with the first letter of the issuing nation. In the United Kingdom if a Silver War Badge was lost, it was not replaced.
Approximately 1,150,000 badges were issued but the numbering system altered, and for family historians this is helpful in identifying when the badge was issued.
Between September 1916 and March 1918, badges were issued with just a number; about 335,000 of these were issued.
Between March 1918 and September 1918, the second series was issued taking the number of badges issued up to 450,000.
Between September 1918 and December 1919 the badges, had a B prefix to the number and some 450,000 were issued.
Between December 1919 and January 1920, badges had an O prefix where around 5,000 were issued.
Between January 1920 and March 1922, the system reverted to just numbers with around 70,000 badges issued.
After April 1918 when the RAF was formed, all RAF personnel were issued with badges prefixed with RAF and over 10,000 badges were issued. The Royal Navy's prefix was RN and there were at least 43,000 badges issued. Also from 1918 servicemen and civilians who served in the Royal Army Medical Corp, VADs, and the QMAAC also received the Silver War Badge.
Officially known as the King's Certificate of Discharge, this accompanying certificate was a printed scroll showing the number, name and unit of the discharged serviceman or woman.
The certificate was handwritten as shown in the following illustration. Each carried a facsimile signature of King George V.
There were different designs for the Army, Royal Navy, Royal Air Force and for the Imperial troops.
The Silver War Badge was awarded to most servicemen and women who were discharged from military service during the First World War. King’s Regulations paragraph 392 (xvi) states no longer physically fit for war service as one of the main reasons for discharge and this could have arisen because of sickness, disease, physical weakness or war wounds. There were many other reasons why personnel could be discharged.
Soldiers discharged during the war because of disabilities they sustained after they had served overseas could also receive a King’s Certificate. Entitlement to the Silver War Badge did not necessarily entitle a man to the award of a King’s Certificate.
The Silver War Badge roll held at The National Archives can be accessed online at both Findmypast and Ancestry. The roll usually provides name, rank, regiment, regimental number, discharge unit, badge number and allows a click through to the image of the original roll.
Besides giving this base information it can lead researchers to war diaries and other information about the person's service. Many wounded men were posted to home service and disposal units immediately prior to discharge and these units were sometimes shown instead of the one which was their regular unit.
For some the records of the Silver War Badge might be the only official document recording their military service and might include those whose service records were destroyed by enemy bombing in the Second World War.
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