WW2 "Bevins Boy?" Defence medal

[FALLSCHIRMJAGER]

Evening gents, I just ordered this fine Defence medal from the bay as it's awards slip is "stamped" to the Maypole colliery! Is this a proper Bevins boy award? I am sure more informed gents than me will know, but on the face of it (not coal) , I thought it was a little bit different, and from a very under appreciated work force of the second world war. Leon.

[DrPMC]

I thought that Bevin Boys - like Land Girls - weren't entitled to the Defence Medal?

If it is a genuine stamp might it be for a member of HG unit (or similar) raised from employees at the colliery?

I thought medals of this sort were usually posted to the recipients home address? Perhaps also strange to crudely stamp the paperwork like that, as it is a form of certificate?

Philip

[FALLSCHIRMJAGER]

Hi Philip, you are most likely spot on, I thought it was odd, but for £20 I did not think I could loose out to much. Thanks for your thoughts, most appreciated. Leon.

[DrPMC]

Hi Philip, you are most likely spot on, I thought it was odd, but for £20 I did not think I could loose out to much. Thanks for your thoughts, most appreciated. Leon.

The Defence Medal has always been a favourite of mine and yours looks like a lovely crisp example.

Regards, Philip

[Jerry B]

Leon, What is the little card booklet?

[big ned]

Leon, What is the little card booklet?

The lid off the carton it came in??? Same as my Dad's GSM???

[FALLSCHIRMJAGER]

Leon, What is the little card booklet?

Morning Jerry and Ned, it is indeed an award carton/box, so that may come in handy one day! Leon.

[Jerry B]

The lid off the carton it came in??? Same as my Dad's GSM???

Doh, I'll get my coat Ned.

[Watchdog]

I thought that Bevin Boys - like Land Girls - weren't entitled to the Defence Medal?
Philip

Yep, quite correct. The Bevin Boys were not awarded the Defence Medal which has been the cause of some dispute for a long time and the Govt seem to have addressed this in the usual way of awarding a "special" badge. I do wonder if it would have been easier, cheaper (given that there would be no new design costs and that the Medal Office still has, I believe, stocks of the Defence Medal) and certainly more appropriate to retro-award the DM? Although this has been very emmotive for those affected I expect this was a crass oversight rather than discrimination and it could have been corrected quickly and with much less fuss than it has engendered.

The Bevin Boys were conscripts doing National Service in a dangerous environment probably more likely to result in injury or death in the service of a nation at war than was the case with air raid wardens etc. So, there is in my mind a real case to be addressed here. Just consider the Arctic Convoy medal issue. I have the greatest respect for those men but put in context would not an award of the Atlantic Star with a specific "Arctic Convoy" clasp / bar have been the most appropriate solution? Isn't this how the Bomber Command matter was settled?

However, to answer the original this can't be a "Bevin Boys" medal as they didn't get these but as to whether such a medal might have been sent to a colliery for a recipent in a different category and the covering letter stamped in this way, who knows? My instinct though suggests that this is an attempt by someone to "jazz up" a common medal during the heightened interest surrounding the Bevin Boys medal / recognition campaign.

Regards

Mark

[DrPMC]

[...] as to whether such a medal might have been sent to a colliery for a recipent in a different category and the covering letter stamped in this way, who knows? My instinct though suggests that this is an attempt by someone to "jazz up" a common medal during the heightened interest surrounding the Bevin Boys medal / recognition campaign.

I think Mark's surmise is correct. The article below from The Times of 22 Mar. 1946 indicates that these medals had to be applied for by the individual who had earned them using a form obtained at the Post Office - they were not issued by a third party like an employer as the stamping is trying to imply. This is why it is still possible to apply for medals not claimed at the time, seventy years later.

Philip