British Medals, need identification

[wpreid]

Hi All

The picture is of a friend of mine's fathers ribbon bar and dress medals. He served with the Royal Engineers and the Airborne division during the war. Unfortunatley the identity of all of his medals is not known. THe bronze stars appear to be service medals for the theaters he served in but the rest we are unsure about.

The help of the experts on here would be appreciated.

Thanks & Regards

[davesap250]

You ae correct with the stars. The green and purple is the general service medal. At a guess was he in the army before or after the war? My grandad had one for Iraq. It should say on the clasp. Green and orange is the defense medal. Red,blue,white red is war medal 1939-1945. I am unsure of the last two. On his gs medal it should be named with his number around the edge. The last two maybe the same? Hope this is of some help?
Nice grouping

[wpreid]

Thanks for the reply. He was in the army before the war, not after it, he was wounded during the Rhine crossing which ended his war.

[davesap250]

I'm an ex sapper so its always good to see RE medals on here. Someone on here will know the last two medals. The gs medal is still used today it has just recently stopped being issued for troops in Northern Ireland.

[wpreid]

Hi

The last one is the "Malta George Cross, Permission to Wear" ribbon, but I havent got the second last one yet. Anybody know any good ribbon ID sited I could have a look through.

Cheers

[skypilot]

The medals, in order are:

1918-62 General Service Medal (Clasp unknown although I suspect "Palestine" is most likely)
39-45 Star
Atlantic Star
Africa Star
Italy Star
France & Germany Star
Defence Medal
39-45 War Medal
1937 Coronation Medal
Malta George Cross 50th Anniversary Commemorative Medal

The group of medals shown below the ribbons is a miniature set for wear on Mess Dress etc. and so will not be named. Of the full-sized medals, only the 1918-62 GSM will bear a name, as described around the edge of the medal planchette. British campaign medals are, or rather should be worn in the order they were attained, hence it is quite possible to find a GSM at the beginning or end of a WW2 group. The WW2 campaign medals have their own set order of precedence (just to be different!). Generally, the order of wear is: Orders & Decorations; Campaign Medals; Jubilee/Coronation Medals; Long/Meritous Sevice Medals; Foreign Medals (but only when permission to wear them has been granted by the sovereign). That's a rough outline!

The group is somewhat unusual as it includes the Atlantic Star, which is more normally associated with naval personnel or RAF Coastal Command. Some Royal Artillery chaps qualified for it as DEMS gunners on board vessels. It would interesting to know how he qualified for the award.

The 1937 Coronation medal was awarded to various civil and military personnel to celebrate the coronation of King George VI on 12 May 1937. Around 90,000 were issued.

The Malta GC medal is as described and as such would not normally be considered wearable but HM The Queen granted permission. The medal is issued unnamed and those who claimed for the medal after 15 April 1994 will have the word "Copy" on the full-sized medal.

The combination of awards would lend itself to suggesting the recipient was either an SNCO or officer.

[Walkwolf]

It is very interesting to see a GS Medal in 'first position' on a bar. I would have thought
it to be correctly placed third last, in front of the Coronation medal.

The Atlantic Star included with these medals is unusual too, as Skypilot mentions,
but he has given complete and correct info on this set.


A nice group...............!

[skypilot]

If, as I suspect, the clasp is for Palestine (awarded for service between 19 April 1936 and 3 September 1939), then it should come first as it has precedence, even if he earned additional clasps for later campaigns. If the single clasp is for a later campaign such as Malaya, then indeed it should be third from the right.

It can get awfully confusing, especially as the General Service Medal 1962-2007, most commonly seen with a "Northern Ireland" clasp, has a near identical ribbon.

It is perfectly possible to see two chaps with say, an Iraq Medal and a GSM 1962 with an NI clasp but both chaps wearing them in different orders due to the order in which they were earned!

[Walkwolf]

If, as I suspect, the clasp is for Palestine (awarded for service between 19 April 1936 and 3 September 1939), then it should come first as it has precedence, even if he earned additional clasps for later campaigns. If the single clasp is for a later campaign such as Malaya, then indeed it should be third from the right.

It can get awfully confusing, especially as the General Service Medal 1962-2007, most commonly seen with a "Northern Ireland" clasp, has a near identical ribbon.

It is perfectly possible to see two chaps with say, an Iraq Medal and a GSM 1962 with an NI clasp but both chaps wearing them in different orders due to the order in which they were earned!

Correct, and indeed confusing sometimes............ !

[wpreid]

Hi All

Many thanks for your replies. The gentelman in question was a friend of mines father, he is not very computer literate so I volunteered to gather what information I could on the medals.

Hi father was Frank Sheridan and was quite well known in certain circles in Ireland. He serverd with the "591 Antrim Airborne Squadron, Royal Engineers, 6th Airborne Division". Some pictures of Frank and a brief history of him can be found on the Sheridan Clan web site The Official Sheridan Clan Website, Sheridan History, Origin of Sheridan

As regards the questions re the Atlantic star, I know that he served for a time on the Azores and was involved in building an aerodrome there I think.

His rank is a bit of a mystery, he is quite often referred to as a Major but his family are unsure about this. He told me that he was promoted prior to being seriously injured during the Rhine crossing and did not get to hold the rank. No doubt the family can get his military records if they wish.

He was a lovely guy and had a very active war including dropping into Normandy before the D Day landings.

A history of his unit can be found at ;

The History of 591 Antrim Airborne Squadron, Royal Engineers, 6th Airborne Division

Thanks again for your help.

Regards
Bill