An old thread, not sure if it's the one you were thinking of Steve. http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/18535-distinctions-for-war-service-1939-1945/ Ribbons could cause trouble on parade in other ways... Shortly before demob in '47 my Dad was in local barracks while the battalion prepared itself for another tour in Palestine. One of their Lieutenants had not seen any war service, apparently wasn't quite up to the usual mark height-wise either, and so enacted his petty jealousy against the men who wore ribbons while on parade. One day another officer asked a CSM why there was a dire lack of ribbons on show as would be required. It had become quite obvious to the men that each and every one of them who was entitled to them found themselves up on various punishments with boring regularity, thanks to the Lieutenant. The Guardsmen quietly decided not to wear their ribbons while on parade, NCOs followed suit out of solidarity, many of them recipients of gallantry awards (to the regiment's honour of course). Naturally this course of action eventually had the desired effect: it was noticed and enquired upon. As the story goes, checks were made and ... the Lt. responsible found himself suspended off the floor and up against the wall of the Officers Mess, courtesy of a veteran officer's rather forceful grip.
Another old thread which might be of interest - medal claim/index card http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/12596-ww2-medal-index-card/
I've never seen that type of card before Diane, very interesting. I just picked up some casualty medals this week off EBay, the recipient tragically was killed in 1947, but because of the delay in sending out his entitlement the war office was able to process his awards as posthumous in regard to the condolence slip etc.
However you decide to present them, Derrick, please note that the Defence Medal and the General Service Medal are both back to front; the King's head should be showing. Chris
The medal that simply says 1939-1945 is the War Medal. As you reside in Canada, did your father serve in the Canadian Active Service Force, or was he in the British Forces?
Derrick, tough call in deed. They appear to have been worn with pride. As mentioned above, the Defense Medal is reversed. It looks to me as if the ribbon is completely severed, resulting in the medal coming off the ribbon and installed backwards. I have one set of medals in similar condition in my collection. I finally decided to mount them on a backing and stitch the medal discs at the suspenders, to the backing card so as to avoid the loss of a medal. Normally I would have remounted them in a 'court' style, but as they belonged to a very good veteran friend of mine, I could not bring myself to do this.,
A letter home from a B.S.M. of 76th H.A.A. Regt dated 7 December 1943 states, "Spent most of today getting details from members of the Battery for the “North Africa Star with clasp” which is apparently on its way. So shall probably be flashing a ribbon ‘ere long." The ribbons certainly were issued to troops in Italy. A later letter suggests that the N.A. ribbon could be augmented with either a "1" or an "8" for 1st or 8th Army, but not sure that this materialised. Another letter states that red long service chevrons were issued to same troops - has anyone photos of these?
http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/45969-war-diary-1st-battalion-irish-guards-jan-1944-mar-1944/?p=541555 1IG War Diary: