MEDALS AND RIBANDS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12754, 25 September 1919, Page 7

MEDALS AND RIBANDS.

OFFICIAL STATEMENT. A communication has been received by the Christchurch Returned Soldiers' Association from General Richardson, of which the following are the chief portions:—“ln addition to the 1911 and 1914-15 Star, which will ho issued to soldiers who served in accordance with the qualifying conditions, every soldier who entered a theatre of war will be entitled to receive two medals, viz.—tho British General Service Medal •and the Alljed Victory ModaL It will bo a considerable timo before those medals are ready for issue, as'they are now being manufactured in England, and will require to be engraved in tho Dominion before being made available for presentation. Supplies of the General Service riband have been ordered from Hogic, and will shortly arrive, when a sufficient quantity will be sent to each district to enable anyone entitled to the same to obtain his allowance from the. nearest defence office on presenting his discharge document, or pay book, or giving other satisfactory evidence of liis having qualified for the medal. The, Victory Medal riband has a red centre with rainbow colours on each side. 'This riband will not be available for issue for some time, as adequate supplies are difficult, to obtain. All soldiers of the Allied armies who have served in a theatre of war will receive this medal and riband. The presentation of w r ar medals will be a big question, as there are at least 200,000 war medals to issue in the whole Dominion. Returned soldiers entitled to medals for gallantry or'meritorious service, and who have not yet received them, may, if they so desire, have them forwarded to the officer in charge Base Records. The same procedure may be adopted in tho case of the General Service and Victory Medals when they are ready for issue. No relative or parent of a soldier who has Tost his life is. entitled to wear decorations, medals, or the ribands awarded to the man for service in the field. They may only be w r orn by the individual on whom they have been conferred, and that right in no case passes to any i c iative after the death of the recipient. It is the same with awards made |-.osthumously. decoration or ncrlal, though handed to a relative, must not bo worn. It should be the custom for ex-soldiers to wear their medals when attending public functions in plain clothes, or, if tho medals have not been issued, to wear the ribands. Although it is not customary to wear "egulirly the ribands when in plain clothes, there is no reason against doing so. In evening dress clothes a returned soldier may wear miniature medals, whatever 1 his rank, and when attending militaryentertainments .or other military or semi-military functions ho should invariably. wear either miniature medals or miniature ribands. If neither of these are available, the full-sized ribands should be worn. War medals and ribands arc the insignia of honourable service rendered to the State, and should be worn on all suitable occasions/’