Tom Tulloch-Marshall Military Genealogy & Operational Records Of The Great War

The British Army 1914 ~ 1919
Researching Service Medal Records
Officers and Other Ranks

1914 & 1914-15 Stars ~ British War Medal ~ Victory Medal ~ Territorial Force War Medal
(and some notes on the Silver War & Imperial Service Badges)

an explanation ~ the medals ~ medal index cards ~ gallantry awards ~ medal rolls ~ the Silver War Badge & Imperial Service Badge

Searches of the service medal records is almost by necessity the starting point for any work on any man's record, - provided of course that the man saw overseas service and had service medal qualification. (If he didn't qualify for any of the Great War service medals then all is not lost - there are other ways into the records). If absolutely nothing is known about the man's Army service it may still be possible to make a positive identification in the Army Medal Office records or the service records depending what other information is known about him, - the man's name can be a major factor here and it is obviously much harder to pin-down a "John Smith" than it is to deal with someone who may be called Harold George Postlethwait ! Women who served in a theatre of war or "rendered approved service overseas" also qualified for service medals, please refer to the page "Women's Services during the Great War" elsewhere on this site.

Note that there was no minimum period of overseas service with the British Army in order to qualify for WW1 service medals, simply "getting on the boat" was enough !

There are a total of five "general service" medals relevant to the British Army during the Great War, though theoretically (some issue mistakes were made) any officer or man could only be entitled to a maximum of three. The medals and their ribbons are as follows:-

The 1914 Star and  the"August-November" Bar. The 1914 Star was awarded to members of the British and Indian Expeditionary Forces (including civilian doctors, nurses, and other personnel employed in military hospitals) for service on the establishment of a unit in France or Belgium between 5th August and midnight on the 22nd-23rd November 1914. The Bar was awarded to recipients of the Star who had actually served under fire during the qualifying period. The 1914-15 Star  is identical to the 1914 Star excepting that the central scroll is titled "1914-15" rather than "Aug-1914-Nov". There are some convolutions with regard to eligibility  to this medal, but broadly it was awarded to all who served in (but not those who simply passed through) any theatre of war against Germany and her allies between 5th August 1914 and 31st December 1915, except those who were entitled to the 1914 Star. If a man or woman qualified for either Star then qualification for the British War & Victory Medals was automatic.

A 1914 Star "Trio" with August-November Bar and Bronze Oakleaf for Mentions in Dispatches. (Second from left is the British War Medal and right is the Victory Medal).

The British War Medal was the most widely awarded of the service medals with almost seven million going into circulation. There are vagaries with the issue criteria however the core qualification is that the man or woman entered a theatre of war on duty or left their place of residence and rendered approved service overseas other than on the waters dividing the different parts of the United Kingdom between 5th August 1914 and 11th November 1918 inclusive. There were also some extensions of eligibility beyond 11/11/1918, service in Russia during 1919-20 for example.

The British Victory Medal. Qualification criteria are not the same as for the BWM and there were reputedly about 3/4 of a million fewer VM's issued, though that is mainly a naval matter and does not really affect the research aspect of the Army "general service" medal records. (It was not possible to be awarded the Victory Medal unless you also had BWM qualification and all recipients of ether the 1914 or 1914-15 Star automatically qualified for the BW & V Medals).  

The Territorial Force War Medal. This medal (the reverse of which is shown here) is far rarer than either the 1914 or 1914-15 Stars, - approximately 34,000 TFWM's were issued against well over two million Stars. The TFWM is also the medal for which issue criteria are most often miss-stated; even to the extent that some guide notes at the PRO get it wrong. The TFWM was awarded to members of the Territorial Force and the Territorial Nursing Service who volunteered for overseas service no later than 30th September 1914 (ie signed Army Form E624) - but - they had either to be serving with the TF prior on the 4th of August 1914 or have had not less than four years service with the TF prior to that date and have rejoined the force and volunteered for overseas service prior to September 30th. Additional to that they must not have been eligible for either the 1914 or 1914-15 Star and they must have had eligibility for the British War Medal (but not necessarily the Victory Medal).

medal index cards ("mic's")	The index cards for Officers and OR's entitlement to the 1914 Star, 1914-15 Star, British War & Victory Medals, Territorial Force War Medal and the "Silver War Badge" (men discharged as a result of sickness, wounds, age etc.) will normally give basic information such as which medals were sanctioned, the Regiment(s) and / or Corp(s) which the man served with, his rank and service number(s), and, in the case of those entitled to either of the Stars (and many Officers who did not have Star qualification) the first overseas date and theatre of war first served in. These index cards also contain the original medal roll references, this allowing identification and retrieval of the rolls themselves. The index cards will usually (not always, but "usually") tell you whether an Other Ranks service medals were successfully issued to him; - if they werent then the card should show a reference such as "KR 1743 1912" (or similar, or a later KR para) which means that the medals were undeliverable and were returned to store for ten years before being broken-up (assuming they werent claimed in the meantime). Occasionally there are problems with the card-index system and there may be difficulty identifying a particular Officer or OR. Miss-filed cards are not unknown and there have been instances where  there seems to be no index card at all for a man who is irrefutably entitled to service medals. This can sometimes be resolved by going straight to the relevant medal rolls and trawling through them until the man's entry is found, although this is extremely time-consuming if the man was in something like the Artillery or Army Service Corps, etc. Occasionally it is impossible to make an index identification for an Officer's medal entitlements, - this is because an Officer (or his next of kin if he was deceased) had to apply for his medal issues whereas OR's medals were issued automatically. It is not unusual to find entries in medal rolls showing applications for WWI medal issues (which have previously been unclaimed) during the mid-late 30's when the outbreak of WW2 was anticipated.
gallantry awards	Sometimes, but by no means always, the medal index card and / or the medal rolls will mention the fact that the Officer or man has been awarded the Military Cross, Military Medal, Distinguished Conduct Medal, or some other gallantry award, - but this is by no means assured and other searches may have to be made. See "Gallantry Awards" in the main British Army index.
medal rolls	In some cases (particularly Officers, and OR's who served in the Corps, Royal Field Artillery, and some other units) the medal rolls will reveal no information additional to that shown on the index card, however it is far from unusual to find additional detail such as the reason for a mans early discharge (wounded, unfit, etc); the date of his discharge; whether he was discharged to reserve; changes in Regiment or Battalion; whether he was a prisoner of war, and other such matters. Some units recorded particularly good information in their rolls; for example Battalions of the London Regiment generally give the start and finish dates for a man's posting(s), which can be especially useful if no service record survives. As a general rule the Medal Office rolls should always be retrieved and examined rather than relying solely on the information given on the mic.

The Silver War Badge - discharge due to wounds, age, infirmity or sickness	The Silver War Badge is not a medal or decoration, however record of it's being awarded to any officer or man (and later women) is generally included with his service medal records, and details given in the SWB rolls can add significantly to knowledge of the man's service. Discharges which led to award of the SWB (which had to be claimed, and then its issue approved) were generally covered by paragraph 392 (xvi) of "King's Regulations And Orders For The Army" 1912 as ammended to August 1914. There are, by the way, probably more "silly stories" told about the SWB than anything else associated with the service medal records - and almost as many variations of what public-bar experts will tell you its called; "Silver Discharge Badge", the "Wounded Badge" etc., etc., - no end of variations - I've even seen it refered to as the "Silver Warrior Badge" ! The award was introduced by Army Order AO316 of 1916, titled "Silver War Badge", which initially stipulated that the award was available to Officers and OR's of the British, Indian, and Overseas Forces: -
(nb - the identity of a recipient of an SWB can normally be established from the serial number on the rear of the badge, no other information is needed)

"Who have served at home or abroad since the 4th August, 1914, and who on account of age, or physical infirmity arising from wounds or sickness caused by military service have, in the case of Officers, retired or relinquished their commissions, or, in the case of men, have been discharged from the Army." These conditions were later expanded, most significantly to include the women's services and some civilians who served "attached" to the forces. The minimum qualifying period of service was seven consecutive days. (Nb - by order of the Army Council the Silver War Badge could not be awarded to a soldier or ex-soldier who was an inmate of an Asylum [men certified as suffering "general paralysis of the insane", etc], and requests for such issues from next of kin etc were turned down with advice that the man should reapply if and when he was discharged. Nor could the SWB be awarded if an officer or man's discharge resulted from "misconduct" on his part).

The rolls for the Silver War Badge  generally record the man's date of enlistment and discharge, whether he was discharged as the result of being wounded or through age or "sickness", and often give his age at time of discharge. It was not necessary for an Officer or OR to have had overseas service in order for him to qualify for the SWB, so home service can be established if no service record survives. The badge was to be worn on the right breast when in civilian dress - it was forbidden to wear it on military uniform. The War Office covering note which was issued with SWB's warned that if lost it would not be replaced, but when SWBs were handed in at Police stations (etc) they were returned to the WO and if the original recipient could still be traced at his / her discharge address then the badge was returned to them.