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
British Navy GSM abbreviation
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
a picture of the rim engraving
I think it is Naval Airman Instrument Mechanic ( Airframe ) .
Regards .
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
Look for his medal index card on ancestry or national archives
Regards,
Jerry
Whateverits just an opinion.
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
Last edited by Watchdog; 05-09-2024 at 01:20 PM. Reason: typo
"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing he cares more about than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature with no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
Dear Mr. Mark
thank you very much for the invaluable information. Indeed, on the rim the engraving is L/SFX 882308 E. V. OSBORNE N.A.I.M (A) RN, so the service number is a perfect match. Not sure I will be able to find out more about Eric Osborne but at least I have a name and some data about his military service abroad HMS Albion Pennant. It makes me extremely happy when I buy a medal to be able to find out at least the name of the recipient so I am extremely grateful for helping me.
All the best regards
Sever (Romania)
Hi Sever,by vitharr
Your are very welcome. This is what we do here on the forum!
Yes that is the right man. the letters either before or after the name would change as his career progressed as they represent his rank at the time the medal was awarded.
Just to be clear the name of the ship is HMS (Her Majesty's Ship) Albion. The word Pennant refers to the "Pennant number" which is like its registration or fleet number. It is an old word for a small flag. So HMS Albion was also known by the Pennant number RO7. The Pennant number tells what type of ship it is without identifying it by name.
For further example; The current HMS Queen Elizabeth which is also an aircraft carrier and has the Pennant Number RO8 and her sister ship HMS Prince of Wales has the Pennant number RO9
Here are some more examples from after WWII
Post-1948
After the Second World War, in 1948, the Royal Navy adopted a rationalised "pennant" number system where the flag superior indicated the basic type of ship as follows. "F" and "A" use two or three digits, "L" and "P" up to four. Again, pennant 13 is not used. Post-1948
A — auxiliaries (vessels of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, Royal Maritime Auxiliary Service, and Royal Navy Auxiliary Service, including depot ships, boom defence vessels, etc.)
C — cruisers (currently none in service, therefore unused)
D — destroyers
F — frigate (former escort destroyers, sloops and corvettes)
H — shore signal stations (military); survey vessels
K — miscellaneous vessels (e.g., the helicopter support ship HMS Lofoten or the seabed operations vessels RFA Proteus and HMS Challenger)
L — amphibious warfare ships
M — minesweepers
N — minelayers (currently none in service, therefore unused)
P — patrol boats
R — aircraft carriers
S — submarines
X — experimental vessels (currently, the only vessel to use this is XV Patrick Blackett which is not a commissioned ship of the Navy but is crewed and run by the Royal Navy)
Y — yard vessels
I know this is more than you asked for but it might help if you find other Royal Navy items.
Regards
Mark
"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing he cares more about than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature with no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
Great stuff Mark.
Regards,
Jerry
Whatever
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