I would welcome any pictures and information on the Memorial Cross issued to the next of kin of Canadian and New Zealand forces who died while serving in the military. I believe that the WW2 Canadian version was very similar to that issued in WW1. Were they boxed?? If anyone can shed more light on the subject, I'd very much like to hear from you. Many thanks Pete
Hi RT Here is a picture of an ERII : http://www.medals.org.uk/new-zealand/new-zealand010.htm You could also try the NZ defence force site - type in new zealand and medals etc. as keywords; they have a very good reference about their (and UK/NZ) medals. Cheers Richard
Hi Pete, The Canadian Memorial Cross (or Silver Cross) was awarded to next of kin of service personnel who died in the service of Canada. The commemorative was intended to be presented to the family members as a token of the sacrifice. It was not associated with the service medals. though many collectors want the medals with the cross. In collecting Canadian WWII medals, there is a premium attached to the Memorial Cross, as it was named to the serviceman (or woman) who died. It provides the link that puts a name to the medals. Veterans Affairs Canada has a very informative site. See Memorial Cross. In addition to the Memorial Cross, the Canadian government issued the Memorial Bar for service personnel who lost their lives. This commemorative was an after thought. In the late 1940's, service medals of the personnel who lost their lives were being mailed to the next-of-kin. The families who received these often had no idea who or what the service medals were for. Unlike WW1, these service medals were not named. A public outcry led the government to consider some method of identifying the medals to the serviceman (woman). It proved to be impossible to re-call the medals and name them. The compromise was a sterling silver bar with the serviceman's name and date of loss engraved. These were intended to be sewn on the medal ribbons of the service medal. The Memorial Bar is almost forgotten in the scheme of things. They were mailed out to the next of kin in 1950 or 1951. This commemorative is the award which should be with the service medals. For some reason these are seen less frequently than the Memorial Cross. The government of New Zealand followed the Canadian lead on issuing crosses, but I am not familiar with their practices.
Interesting about the named bars - never heard of them before now, so thanks for that. Here is another link with pictures and text: http://members.shaw.ca/jollytar/memorials/memorials.htm Richard
Pete, a couple of the boxes for the Memorial Cross for sale on ebay. (I have no connection with these vendors.) Memorial Cross box #1 Memorial Cross Box #2 The main change in the crosses is the Royal Cypher. The GVI cypher replaced the GRI cypher. At the beginning of World War 11, existing inventory of Memorial Crosses GIR were issued. It is possible to find WWII casualties with GRI Memorial Crosses.