Polish WW2 War Medal

**DRAGON** · 03-09-2010, 10:12 PM

Hello everybody, I joined recently and have enjoyed the range and quality of topics very much. What a wonderful group! I have a question reference the "Active Service Medals" for the three services. Was the relevant medal issued even if the prospective recipient was killed in action during the war?
I have a small archive of images from ebay and Allegro for both the Army Medal and the Airforce Medal, none of which indicate issue to those who did not see the end of WW2. If anybody out there can answer this I would be very interested.
I've been collecting Polish medals and groups for 10 years now and have had such an amazing learning experience.
I'll get round to posting some bits in the not too distant future.
Best to all,
Dragon

**A.J. Zawadzki** · 03-09-2010, 11:36 PM

Hi Dragon, and welcome aboard!

From my observation the "Active Service Medals" were not awarded posthumously, at least for the army service. I own a comprehensive decoration and document grouping to a Pole killed during the battle of Monte Cassino in May 1944 which contains his British and Polish decorations. All documents are marked as being awarded posthumously. The “Polish Army Medal for War 1939-45” is absent, so in this case it was most probably not awarded. But there’s a strong possibility that there were exceptions as these medals were distributed over several years and by various offices. And consistency in such matters was more often the exception than the case in the tumultuous post war years for the Polish Armed Forces in the West. The variety in the award documentation and also in the medals themselves could be cited as supporting evidence that rules may not have been applied across the board.

by DRAGON

. . . I've been collecting Polish medals and groups for 10 years now and have had such an amazing learning experience.
I'll get round to posting some bits in the not too distant future.

Please do!

Regards,
Tony

**DRAGON** · 03-10-2010, 08:37 PM

Thanks Tony, your reply confirms what I thought.
I have a KW document to a Cassino casualty with the "S.p" prefix to his name as in your group illustrated in your wonderful photos shown previously, sadly mine is not a group.
So to sum up we shouldn't make any assumptions about entitlement and whether a medal was actually issued.

**andrzejku98** · 06-04-2010, 01:02 PM

Hi everyone,

The Polish Army Medal, yes the 2 main types that we see on the market are the British made and the later made Swiss types.

Don't you hate it when you can sense a but coming, in the Pilsudski Institute in London their are another 2 types, one of which has found itself onto ebay with a Monte Cassino Group.

Here goes the first time I have added an image I hope it works.

Best wishes

Andrzejku

**Mariusz** · 06-04-2010, 08:17 PM

Hi my collection is growing slowly here are my medals, im not sure if 2 on right are original or copy.

**DRAGON** · 06-05-2010, 09:00 AM

by andrzejku98

Hi everyone,

The Polish Army Medal, yes the 2 main types that we see on the market are the British made and the later made Swiss types.

Don't you hate it when you can sense a but coming, in the Pilsudski Institute in London their are another 2 types, one of which has found itself onto ebay with a Monte Cassino Group.

Here goes the first time I have added an image I hope it works.

Best wishes

Andrzejku

Hi everybody, so another 2 types! I've never seen one of those pictured, now I wonder what the other looks like?
I have got a little puzzle for offer, with the "British version" has anyone noticed that some have a smaller diameter ribbon ring? Hopefully I can upload some photos as evidence. Is this just a different fitting tool in the same manufacturer's workshop? I now have two of these with the "small ring", do you think it has any significance at all?
Any ideas?
Best regards, Dragon

**Mariusz** · 06-06-2010, 04:17 PM

Hi Dragon
Is the first medal original, on original ribbon?

**DRAGON** · 06-06-2010, 09:28 PM

Hello Mariusz,
As far as I'm aware the first pictures show what I've understood is the British made standard type, the ribbon I cannot vouch for, although it looks aged. My second pair of photos show a much smaller diameter ribbon ring. So I was questioning if there was a significance to this. look at these offered by a well known dealer. See the difference in the rings?
Best regards,
dragon