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Medals
Claiming for campaign medals
Replacing campaign medals
How is a medal instituted?
National Service medals
The Pingat Jasa Malaysia Medal
Medal for Suez Canal Zone 1951 to 1954
For some years veterans expressed a wish for a medal to be
instituted retrospectively for service in the Suez Canal Zone during the
early 1950s. This proposal resulted in a number of comprehensive reviews
which were carried out during the 1990s on behalf of the MOD by the Army
Historical Branch. Although the surviving records, the vast majority of which
had been sent to the Public Record Office at Kew for retention and release
to the public domain, were incomplete, there was evidence that General Sir
Brian Robertson, the Commander in Chief of the Middle East Land Forces at
the time, had made a tentative enquiry about the possibility of a campaign
medal in 1952. It was assumed that the matter was discussed by members of
the Army Council, out of committee, and they decided that there was no case
to justify a medal at that time.
However, there was no firm evidence to prove that the request
received proper consideration. Whilst successive Governments had been prepared
to hold the HD Committee's line of non retrospection (see above), there was
a growing feeling in the present Government that while the many other campaigns
from veterans for new or modified medals had at least been considered
Departmentally at some point, it was not certain that the case for a Canal
Zone medal had received such treatment.
In the summer of 2002 the Prime Minister asked the then Cabinet
Secretary and Chairman of the HD Committee to look into the matter. He held
a meeting with MPs and selected representatives of the major Canal Zone veterans'
organisations. Subsequently, the then Parliamentary Under Secretary of State
for Defence, and Minister for Veterans Affairs, Dr Lewis Moonie MP responded
to a written Parliamentary Question which was tabled in the House of Commons
on 23rd July 2002 on the subject of a Canal Zone medal. He said that the
Government considered it to be important to respect the principle that where
there was a clear, demonstrable decision taken within five years of a campaign
that a GSM should not be awarded, the case should not be reopened. However,
the evidence relating to consideration of a GSM for the Suez Canal Zone in
the early 1950s was less clear cut.
In view of the exceptional circumstances, a sub-committee of
the HD Committee under the chairmanship of General Lord Guthrie of Craigiebank
was formed, to report on the case for an exceptional award of a GSM for the
Suez Canal Zone without creating a wider precedent, or breaching long-standing
principles which underpinned the making of such awards.
The sub-committee took evidence from the veterans' representatives
and from the MOD on 22nd November 2002. They informed the HD Committee of
their recommendations before Christmas and the Committee carefully considering
the matter.
The Present
On 11th June 2003, in answer to a Written Question in the House of Commons,
the Prime Minister announced that the sub-committee of the HD Committee
chaired by General Lord Guthrie of Craigiebank had recommended the award
of the Naval General Service Medal 1915-62 and the General Service Medal
1918-62 with a new clasp for service in the Suez Canal Zone between 16th
October 1951 and 19th October 1954, and the HD Committee had endorsed the
recommendation. The then Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Defence,
Ivor Caplin MP announced in a Written Ministerial Statement to the House
of Commons on 23rd October 2003 that The Queen had agreed the qualifying
criteria and that a Command Paper had been laid before Parliament. He said
that medals would be issued as soon as possible.
The HD Committee made clear at that time that they had reviewed
and confirmed the general principle that there should be no retrospective
award of medals for actions or deployments which occurred more than five
years in the past and that principle was also supported by Lord Guthrie's
sub-committee. This meant in simple terms, that the Canal Zone was considered
to be a one-off. The HD Committee confirmed that it would not consider other
cases for service carried out years ago where no medals were ever awarded,
or look at existing medals with a view to modifying their qualifying criteria
for any reason.
Applying for the medal
Veterans of the Canal Zone, or the next-of-kin of those who
have died, should apply in writing to the MOD Medal Office, giving full name,
date of birth and Service number. As with the initial issue of all other
British campaign awards there will be no charge for the medal. There has
been criticism in the Press about delays in issuing these medals, which was
caused by a backlog of initial applications received in the latter half of
2003. At peak, the medal offices received over 2,000 applications in a week.
Since then over 40,000 cases have been reviewed and the waiting list has
been reduced substantially. It is anticipated that all outstanding cases
will be dealt with within the next few months.
The address of the medal office is as follows:
MOD Medal Office
G36, Innsworth House
Imjin Barracks
Gloucester
GL3 1 HW
Email: JPAC@afpaa.mod.uk
Fax: 0141 224 3586
Free Phone: 0800 085 3600
Overseas Civ: +44 (0) 141 224 3600
They will acknowledge every application on receipt. In common
with other campaign medals, all applications will be dealt with strictly
in the order that they are received. Although the backlog has been substantially
reduced in recent months please be prepared for a wait. A dedicated Canal
Zone new section has been established at the Medal Office and all the available
resources are concentrating on recovering the necessary Service files from
the Departmental archives, checking individual eligibility and preparing
medals for despatch. All cases are being dealt with as quickly as possible.
Checking eligibility
It is a basic principle of the Honours and Awards system that
medals are not issued unless qualification has been proved from official
records. Regrettably, there is a lack of detail in many Service records of
the 1950s and some people who believe their service qualified them for a
medal and clasp will not be able to receive them because of the absence of
satisfactory evidence.
Don't worry. This does not mean that individuals' Records of
Service have been lost or destroyed. Very few Service files are mislaid.
In most cases where they are not held in the archives, and therefore not
immediately available, it is because they are already in use elsewhere, perhaps
by the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency for use in assessment for a War Pension, or similar.
However, medals will only be issued if it can be proved from
official evidence that an individual was in the right place at the right
time for the necessary minimum period. It is known that some records of service
give only general statements of where people served and corroboration will
need to be sought from other records. As we are certain veterans already
understand, medals are not issued automatically. If the medal offices are
unable to confirm eligibility, a medal will not be awarded. This is common
to all applications for campaign medals and nothing to get alarmed about.
There is no difficulty in the vast majority of cases, but it depends on what
is contained in the records. Careful checks are made before medals are issued
which is a skilled, time-consuming and exacting job, but the medal office
has skilled staff who are experts at assessing eligibility quickly and accurately.
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