On this Bar there is an 8 to indicate 8th army would the first army have a 1 on there medal or would it just be the plain rosette?
Yogib Your query reminded me of an earlier posting I had made on this subject and I repeat it for you below: Back in the early days of the BBC WW2 website there was a thread running to do with the entitlement of a clasp to the Africa Star, either of the 1st or the 8th Army type. I had already posted a photo of my medals to accompany an article: BBC - WW2 People's War - Stick it in your Army.....Album! and someone spotted that my medals lacked the 1st Army Clasp despite the fact that I had written about arriving in Algeria on the 23rd of April 1943 well before the campaign finished on the 12th of May of the same year. I was being pestered by other site members with would-be helpful hints of the "you should have received a clasp" variety and so to settle the matter I wrote to the relevant MOD department and received the following reply: Dear Sir Thank you for your letter received 7 September enquiry as to the progress in your application for the supplementary award of the clasp ' 1st Army" to the Africa Star. To qualify for the clasp 'Ist Army" personnel are required to have served between 8 November I942 and 12 May 1943 on the posted strength of. or attached for duty to. a formation or unit which appeared on the Order of Battle of the First Army. I can confirm that 49 Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment (49 LAA Regt) appears on the relevant Order of Battle and so earns the clasp. However, available official documents show that on disembarkation in North Africa you were placed into the unposted reinforcement pool and remained so until being posted to 49 LAA Regt on 22 May 1943. You will appreciate that as you only performed service on the strength of an operational unit after the final qualifying date, you are not entitled to the clasp ' 1st Army. I am sorry to forward such a disappointing reply Yours faithfully *********** Officer in charge Division 3 Although I had realised from day one that I was not entitled to the 1st Army clasp, I was still amused to think that although we were subjected to air raids during our stay in Algiers (awaiting posting to our various Regiments) had we been killed our heirs would have been entitled to our medals but sans the appropriate clasp
Ah Nicks you found one!!! Thanx for that Ron just checked the records he was there early January 1943 and was injured in may 1943 so he would have received the clasp and (1) badge!!
One the subject of numbers on medal ribbon. On the Nato Balkans medal ribbon for example, if it has a 2 or 3 on it, it signifies the amount of tours on that operation rather than a unit. I can't seem to find a picture though. Cheers
Ah Nicks you found one!!! Thanx for that Ron just checked the records he was there early January 1943 and was injured in may 1943 so he would have received the clasp and (1) badge!! I found it in a box on my desk, it's my Granddad's. Nick
You could try here.... Bigbury Mint - Makers of Fine Medals. We manufacture a full range of Military replacement and Commemorative medals. A comprehensive in-house medal design and manufacturing service also available to make beautiful medals for you or your organisation. Nick
You can just make out the 1 on this pic of my dad, cheers, John.http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=77&pictureid=605
Nice one nick will do, and yes john i can make it out so i guess im having to go and get one then lol Nope they dont seem to have one just the srosette!!!
