MILLIONS OF WAR MEDALS NOT CLAIMED
(10 a.m.) LONDON, Dec. 15. Four million out of the 5,000,000 who served in the British Army and Home Guard during the war have not taken the trouble to collect their medals for it.
Government offices, ready to supply 20,000,000 war medals and campaign stars to the men and women in Britain and the British colonies, are overflowing with decorations specially minted but evidently not wanted. Little more than one-third of 1,750.000 wartime members of the Royal Air Force and Women’s Auxiliary Air Force have applied for decorations due to them.
Theories for the lack of interest in medals are the natural reaction to memories of war soon after victory and the fact that medals are being issued wholesale without personal inscriptions.
It is the first time in British history that names have been dropped from war medals. Many veterans feel this decision has robbed the award of much of their value and the meaning to the men and women entitled to them. They argue that anyone can buy a set of them cheaply and wear them unchallenged.
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Bibliographic details
Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22821, 16 December 1948, Page 5
Word Count
184MILLIONS OF WAR MEDALS NOT CLAIMED Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22821, 16 December 1948, Page 5
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