Gents,
A local family has asked me to identify some medals they have belonging to family medals. Without knowing what they would be I said I would be happy to look them over and let them know what they had. What follows are 3 interesting sets of medals to 2 generations of their family. I thought some of you may be interested in seeing them...and seeing a rare instance of "double issued" medals.
The first group is to the father...his group is: 1939-45 Star, Atlantic Star with "France & Germany" bar, Africa Star, Defence Medal, Canadian Volunteer Service Medal with "Overseas" clasp, WWII War Medal, Special Service Medal bar "NATO-OTAN", Geo. VI Canadian Forces Decoration, Malta George Cross Fiftieth Anniversary Commemorative Medal
Clearly a group to a widely-serving member of the Royal Canadian Navy. Of note the Africa Star, while not a rare medal in itself by any means, is actually quite scarce in Canadian groups with only 7,400 issued to Canadian recipients. The only scarcer WWII Star to Canadians being the Burma star with only 5,500 issued. RCN groups often do not include the Defence Medal so the recipient must have spent some time ashore somewhere, either in th UK...or perhaps in Malta, which brings me to the final medal.
The Malta GC Commemorative medal (MYB 342) was instituted in 1992. It was "sanctioned by the government of Malta to celebrateee the award of the George Cross by King George VI to the island for its heroic resistance to prolonged Axis attack during the Second World War. The medal has been awarded to surviving veterans who served in Malta in the armed forces and auxiliary services between 10 June 1940 and 8 September 1943." (MYB)
There are 2 strikings of this medal, the 2nd which was issued to vets who applied for the medal after the 15 April 1994 cut-off date, carries the word COPY below the right arm of the George Cross. The example in this group is an original striking.
I am curious if there are any Royal Canadian Navy historians who may know which, if any, Canadian ships were in Malta during the qualifying period. I know little of the recipient's service details as of yet. It is also entirely possible that he was attached or seconded to the RN. I have not had much luck tracking him down in the London Gazette...although he is an officer on his CD, he may have been commissioned after the war.
It's an interesting and attractive group! Here is a pic of the full size and miniatures as worn...note the Atlantic Star has the ribbon bar rosette in place of the "France and Germany" bar and that the Malta medal is mounted with reverse to the front on the full-size gongs...
A local family has asked me to identify some medals they have belonging to family medals. Without knowing what they would be I said I would be happy to look them over and let them know what they had. What follows are 3 interesting sets of medals to 2 generations of their family. I thought some of you may be interested in seeing them...and seeing a rare instance of "double issued" medals.
The first group is to the father...his group is: 1939-45 Star, Atlantic Star with "France & Germany" bar, Africa Star, Defence Medal, Canadian Volunteer Service Medal with "Overseas" clasp, WWII War Medal, Special Service Medal bar "NATO-OTAN", Geo. VI Canadian Forces Decoration, Malta George Cross Fiftieth Anniversary Commemorative Medal
Clearly a group to a widely-serving member of the Royal Canadian Navy. Of note the Africa Star, while not a rare medal in itself by any means, is actually quite scarce in Canadian groups with only 7,400 issued to Canadian recipients. The only scarcer WWII Star to Canadians being the Burma star with only 5,500 issued. RCN groups often do not include the Defence Medal so the recipient must have spent some time ashore somewhere, either in th UK...or perhaps in Malta, which brings me to the final medal.
The Malta GC Commemorative medal (MYB 342) was instituted in 1992. It was "sanctioned by the government of Malta to celebrateee the award of the George Cross by King George VI to the island for its heroic resistance to prolonged Axis attack during the Second World War. The medal has been awarded to surviving veterans who served in Malta in the armed forces and auxiliary services between 10 June 1940 and 8 September 1943." (MYB)
There are 2 strikings of this medal, the 2nd which was issued to vets who applied for the medal after the 15 April 1994 cut-off date, carries the word COPY below the right arm of the George Cross. The example in this group is an original striking.
I am curious if there are any Royal Canadian Navy historians who may know which, if any, Canadian ships were in Malta during the qualifying period. I know little of the recipient's service details as of yet. It is also entirely possible that he was attached or seconded to the RN. I have not had much luck tracking him down in the London Gazette...although he is an officer on his CD, he may have been commissioned after the war.
It's an interesting and attractive group! Here is a pic of the full size and miniatures as worn...note the Atlantic Star has the ribbon bar rosette in place of the "France and Germany" bar and that the Malta medal is mounted with reverse to the front on the full-size gongs...
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