Named British Far East medal, 1945 - 1946

[Alexander]

Hello. I bought this named General Service Medal / Far East medal, with clasp, today along with its box and a covering letter. Interestingly, the medal seems to have been awarded to the recipient , Lance Corporal D. Campbell, in 1982. L/Cpl Campbell was with the Highland Light Infantry. I believe that the medal was issued to personnel stationed in the Far East between September 1945 and November 1946.

Attachment 850010Attachment 850011Attachment 850012Attachment 850013

[Ubique]

I guess it is a late issue then. Can you show a picture of the naming style on the rim please?
Very nice to have the letter and the box as well.

Cheers,
Oz.

[Alexander]

Hi Oz. As requested, here is part of the rim inscription.

Attachment 850356

[Ubique]

Thank you Alexander, I was wondering if the medal would be stamped or pantograph-engraved.

Cheers,
Oz.

[Watchdog]

Nice medal with which I can see no problems.

Being issued in 1982 I expect that this was "claimed" not having been issued for whatever reason at the time it was due. One possible reason is that the recipient had been discharged and the Medal Office did not have a valid address for him.

The SE Asia 1945 -46 clasp was issued for service in that area following the Japanese surrender and duties included internal security and POW handling.

For interest here is a little on the regiment;

The recipient could not have been serving in 1982 as he would have been well over state pension age! Neither could anyone have been in the HLI at that time as the regiment was amalgamated with The Royal Scots Fusilers in 1959 to form The Royal Highland Fusilers (Princess Margarets Own Glasgow and Ayrshire Regiment). This in itself is interesting as HLI were a highland regiment and RSF were a lowland regiment (since 1881 anyway!). The RHF although titled "Highland" wore trews rather than the kilt (apart from pipers) as denotes a lowland regiment. In 2004 together with the other existing Scots infantry regiments it was amalgamated into the Royal Regiment of Scotland and serves now as 2nd Bn RRS (Royal Highland Fusilers).

I hope this is helpful

Regards

Mark

[Alexander]

Thanks for the detail, Mark. It adds a bit more interest to the medal and fills a few gaps. Many thanks again.

[Watchdog]

Thanks for the detail, Mark. It adds a bit more interest to the medal and fills a few gaps. Many thanks again.

You are most welcome, to me the background information adds massively to any piece in my militaria collection. I was 24 years a regular soldier and I still can't get enough of the "detail" my mates used to say I was "khaki brained" and that might just be a good description. I think you can take the man out of the army but you can't take the army out of the man. "Scarred for life"!!!