Medals
Context
Identifying medals when seen close up is relatively easy, as is identifying medal ribbons in clear colour photographs. In reality photographs are often difficult to make out, and nurses rarely wore medals on active service. When looking at a group of medals it is important to verify that the person was entitled to wear them, as some may have been owned as souvenirs (foreign medals). Medals are worn in a particular order which also helps us identify them. They are worn:
Honours | Gallantry Awards | Campaign medals in chronological order | Special awards (eg. Queen's Jubilee) | Service Awards
We often see groups of medals presented in the wrong order. Dealers sometimes also attach the 'Tippet Medal' to these which is wrong as the 'Tippet Medal' was issued and was part of the uniform.
If you need to identify medals there are a lot of resources on the web. We would also recommend Medals: The Researcher's Guide by William Spencer[1], and the Medal Yearbook from the publishers of Medal News[2].
We will present some images of groups of medals here with their description so that you can get used to identifying them.
Staff Nurse Anna Katharine Statham, QAIMNS(R)
This group of medals, tippet medals and collar badges includes: Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902; King’s South Africa 1901-02; 1914-15 Star; British War Medal, and the Victory Medal mounted court style for display. There is also a Princess Christian’s Army Nursing Service (Reserve) Tippet Badge, a Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service tippet medal, a Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service (Reserve) tippet medal, and two QAIMNSR collar badges. The QAIMNS tippet medal would not have belonged to her, and it has the wrong medal ribbon, so you can see how items like these on sale can be very confusing!
Matron Amy Knaggs RRC QAIMNS
This group of medals is not complete (which is not unusual). We know that Matron Amy Knaggs was awarded the Royal Red Cross (RRC) in South Africa, and a further bar to the RRC in WW1. Like the group illustrated above, Amy Knaggs had served in the Princess Christian's Army Nursing Service (Reserve) and should have the badge for this. The group pictured above contains a Queen’s South Africa Medal, 1899-1902; a King’s South Africa Medal; a 1914-15 Star; a British War Medal and a Victory Medal, 1914-1920. The medals are court mounted for display.
Sister E. S. Booth, QAIMNS
This is a WW2 group of medals containing: a 1939-45 Star; an Italy Star; a Defence Medal; a War Medal; and a General Service Medal 1918-62, 1 clasp, Palestine 1945-48.
Matron A.L.Earle RRC Territorial Force Nursing Service
This is an interesting group of medals: Royal Red Cross, 1st Class with bar; British War Medal; Victory Medal with Mentioned in Despatches (MiD) Oakleaf; Territorial Force War Medal; General Service Medal 1918-62, one bar, Iraq; Belgium, Queen Elisabeth Medal. Court mounted as worn. The group shows how the oak leaf was worn after an MiD, and also the representation of the award of the RRC twice (in this case, both for service in Mespoptamia). It also shows that some medals awarded by foreign countries could be worn alongside UK medals providing permission was granted by the Monarch.
Matron Earle was awarded the Queen Elisabeth medal by Belgium. The Queen Elisabeth Medal was a Belgian decoration created to recognise exceptional services to Belgium in the relief of the suffering of its citizens during the First World War. It was awarded to people who, like Queen Elisabeth herself, had worked and cared for the suffering victims of war for a year or more prior to 10 September 1919. Although not limited to care of the sick and wounded, recipients who earned the medal by working in hospitals received a variant with a red enamelled cross in the suspension wreath, as seen in the picture above.
