Rank on medal.

[Ciaran Byrne]

I have just aquired my uncles General Service Medal from his days in Palastine 1945 - 48 and on the rim are the initials CFN and his name and number and regiment (He was in the REME). Any ideas what "CFN" stands for?

[Jack Dutton-Roberts]

Hiya Ciaran

CFN stands for Craftsman, the REME rank equivalent to Private.

Cheers, from Jack.

[Tony Farrell]

Rank Convolutions

Other rank quirks that can be found on medals are:

Tpr - Trooper (SAS, Cavalry Regts.)
A Tpr - Air Trooper (Army Air Corps)
Dvr - Driver (RCT [now RLC])
Spr - Sapper (RE)
Rfn - Rifleman (RGJ, Light Infy., Royal Gurkha Rifles)
Fus - Fusilier (RWF, RHF, RRF)
Kgn - Kingsman (Kings Regt.)
Rgr - Ranger (Royal Irish Regiment)
Sig - Signaller (R Sigs.)
Cfn - Craftsman (REME)
Hdr - Highlander (The Highlanders)
Gdn - Guardsman (Guards Regts. [sometimes as Gdsm])
Mne - Marine (RM)

The above are all Private ranks (Pte) and are current apart from Driver.

[Marc Sherriff]

Gnr - Gunner (Royal Regiment of Artillery)

[Ciaran Byrne]

Thanks for your help fellas... and cheers for the other ranks Tony. Much appreciated.

[Ian Jewison]

Other rank quirks that can be found on medals are:
:
Sig - Signaller (R Sigs.)
:
:.

Just a minor error...that is Signalman and not Signaller...

/Ian

[Tony Farrell]

Not an error ol' fruit. It used to be Signalman, but the PC brigade decided it was naughty - especially when the WRAC became assimilated in to the rest of the army. So the more androgynous Signaller became the norm. Sorry Marc. How could I forget the RA?

[Ian Jewison]

Not an error ol' fruit. It used to be Signalman, but the PC brigade decided it was naughty - especially when the WRAC became assimilated in to the rest of the army. So the more androgynous Signaller became the norm. Sorry Marc. How could I forget the RA?

H'mmmm How things have changed since I left the Army

[Greeves]

Tony and Ian: you think that's bad?! Ha! The Canadian Army no longer has infantrymen...no, now we have something called infanteers... I think next they'll take away our rifles - as they may offend - and we'll use gaily coloured padded plastic bats instead....

Personally, I don't think the men who took Vimy Ridge, who stormed the beaches at Dieppe and Juno, and who stood firm at Kapyong were infanteers...I'm pretty sure they were infantry men...but that's just me...

Further to Ian's point - I always thought of "signaller" as the job description not the rank...