British Navy GSM abbreviation

[vitharr]

Hello everyone
recently I saw on a Naval General Service Medal the abbreviation N.A.I.M (A) R.N. I understand that RN comes from Royal Navy but what means NAIM(A)? Is it a rank, a function?
Thank you
All the best
S. Botan

[vitharr]

a picture of the rim engraving

[escosis]

I think it is Naval Airman Instrument Mechanic ( Airframe ) .
Regards .

[vitharr]

This is the medal I have recently acquired. How could I be able to find a little something about its owner - E.V. OSBORNE?
Thank you
Sever

[Jerry B]

Look for his medal index card on ancestry or national archives

[Watchdog]

Hi Server,

This will not be that easy I think.

As you know this is the Royal Naval GSM 1915 but it is the Queen Elizabeth II version (1st type with Tudor crown) therefore it is not a WWI medal which means there will be no Medal Index Card either. Also this version was awarded from 1953/4 to 1962 (replaced by the GSM 1962 awarded to all services) which makes it possible that the recipient is still alive and certainly his immediate family which complicates the confidentiality issue somewhat.

The 'Malaya' clasp gives the best clue and relates to the "Malaya Emergency" of 1948-60.

There were quite a lot of naval units involved including some shore based units in Singapore.

However Ancestry has a recipient of this medal; Eric Victor OSBORNE POAF (PO will be Petty Officer and AF I expect is something like Airframe Fitter?) with the service number 882308 P/KX serving in HMS Albion Pennant number RO7 an aircraft carrier deployed to the Malayan Emergency.

So, if that service number matches I think this may be your man.

Other wise you will probably have to search "open source" material as official sources will not disclose much if anything about relatively recent awards.

You may get further advice here;

Attention Required! | Cloudflare

By the way, in the Royal Navy when a ship is decommissioned the name tends usually to be carried by a new ship. The current (9th) HMS Albion (L14), sister ship to HMS Bulwark (L15) is also a type of aircraft carrier known as a "Landing Dock Platform" aka Amphibious Assault Ship in other navies around the world which carries helicopters and landing craft.

I hope this helps and let us know how you get on with this interesting medal.

Regards

Mark