27 MILES OF MEDAL RIBBON WANTED

Putaruru Press, Volume XX, Issue 1183, 23 May 1946, Page 6

27 MILES OF MEDAL RIBBON WANTED

WAR’S CAMPAIGN STARS

Awards Tabulated At Base Records If all this medal ribbon to be issued in New Zealand when the campaign stars for this war come to hand wao placed on end it would stretch from Wellington to Paekakariki. Al Bass Records the tabulation of medals and awards, the documentation of information on the subject, and latterly the issue of medal ribbons, have been progressing smoothly since early in the war. Some 3500 decorations were won by New Zealanders of the 2nd Division (exclusive of bars), and well over 200 by personnel of the 3rd 'Division. , When a man is* awarded a decoration. advice is received at Base Records from the United Kingdom, and the cable usually gives, in addition to the usual details which identify the soldier, the date on which : the award will be notified in the -• London Gazette,. On receipt of this _• advice the soldier or his next of kin io advised!, and a letter from the Minister of Defence follows. When a soldier becomes the recipient of a foreign award details of his next of kin arc supplied’ to the representatives of the country concerned, but it is their privilege to-make arrangements for the investiture. At Baca Records three distinct systems are kept. One shows in alphabetical ord-ar the recipients of awards, another contains the names in award order (such as V.C., D.-5.0., etc.), and'the third register contains awards in unit order. This means that if anyone, wants to know how many decorations were won, for instance, by member,.' of the 23rd Battalion, the answer can be found very quickly. The system, however, applies only to awards won in this war. When an award is announced', the man concerned- can put up his ribbon as soon as he can obtain it, but the actual presentation of medals to servicemen is held over until a public investiture can be arranged-, cither here or overseas. The first service ribbon to be issued in this war was the Africa Star, early in 1944, and shortly afterwards the 1939-43 Star was announced, the, instruction then being given that no person could qualify for both. At that time the Africa Star was considered the higher qualification, but in May, 1945, -the number of campaign star a was increased to eight, and the Defence Medal was also authorised. The 1939-43 Star now became the 1939-45 Star, and was followed in order "by the Atlantic Star, the Air Crew Europe Star, the Africa Star, the Pacific Star, the Burma Star, the Italy Star, the France and 'Germany Star, and l the Defence Medal. From first place on. the list the Africa Star tbuo dropped to fourth. But there io no doubt as to where'it is placed in the, hearts of most New Zealanders.

A soldier can qualify for any five of these stars, but by no mathematical juggling could he have been around l in the requisite areas for the required length of time to earn more than that number. Three is usually considered the hall-mark of a pretty seasoned veteran. As the stars were issued Army Headquarters requisitioned for supplies of ribbon from England l and this was handed to Base Records. From here all campaign ribbons issued in New Zealand are drawn. Contrary to popular opinion, campaign ribbons, are not isoued automatically, but are given out free of cost on application.. When the soldier wants a replacement he buys it from Army Headquarters. One penny an inch is the price, and' 3d for an Arabic 8 to go on the Africa Star. Decorations are issued automatically by Army Headquartero alone. Stocks of some ribbons are very low, but over a mile of both the 1939-45 Star and the Africa-Star are on hand. In many cases men returning from the Middle East have been issued overseas with a mioerabla scrap of ribbon, or have purchased “wog” ribbons made in anything but true colours. Applications from them have been received sympathetically, and in most caoes no charge has been made for another issue. The medals to accompany the campaign ribbons are being manufactured at tha Royal Mint at Woolwich Arsenal, and in Australia. In due course New Zealand will receive about a quarter of a million medals. Each man will .have to fill in an

application form for the medal®, and hio records will be checked before they ara approved for issue. A sizeable bit of ribbon will be given with each medal, and it i s thought that many applications for ribbon received from discharged pa-sonnel have been made in the belief that this will not be done.

Yos, there will be many welldecorated chest,.* at R.S.A. parades in the years to come. When they march along the street the men of thi s war will bring to mind- the old joke: “Scrunch, scrunch, scrunch, scrunch—-tinkle, tinkle!”