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Guidance: Medals: campaigns, descriptions and eligibility

Ministry Of Defence

May 5
12:40 2023

The Ministry of Defence Medal Office issues medals to currently serving members of the armed forces, veterans and MOD employees. If you are a member of other services, such as the fire, police or prison service, you should contact your organisations Human Resources department in the first instance.

You can apply for a medal if you meet the criteria.

The information in this guide is intended to give a brief overview only.

Announcements

On 5 May 23, the Culture Secretary announced the introduction of a Coronation Medal to recognise members of the Armed Forces, frontline emergency service workers and people actively contributing to The Kings Coronation, with an expected total of 400,000 recipients. In recognition of His Majesty The Kings role as Commander-in-Chief of the UK Armed Forces, members of the Defence community who meet any one of the following criteria will be awarded the Coronation Medal:

  • Members of the Armed Forces, Civil Service and those from MOD sponsored voluntary organisations who provide active contributory service to the official constitutional Coronation events, including events in the Devolved Administrations, Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories.

  • Serving members of the Armed Forces who have completed five full calendar years of service and in active service on 6 May 2023.

  • Members of the Armed Forces who participate in Armed Forces Coronation events throughout the rest of 2023, such as official gun salutes, parades, or presentations of regimental colours.

There is expected to be no application process for this medal - eligible personnel will automatically be identified and notified in due course. The medal will likely be distributed to eligible recipients beginning from late Summer 2023, as and when sufficient levels of stock are available.

Further details on eligibility criteria and the distribution process are in development and will be published as soon as available. In the interim, units and individuals are directed not to approach the MOD Medal Office. Any enquiries or attempts to apply will not be acknowledged and will be deleted.

If you are employed or sponsored by another frontline emergency service that may be eligible for the Coronation medal, please contact your respective Honours or HR departments for further information, as the MOD Medal Office only administers medals relating to the Armed Forces.

Delay to historic requests

As part of the Defence Records Management Project, a percentage of archived service files are being transferred to the National Archives.

This is having a significant impact on the time that it usually takes to assess for historic requests, such as those for WW2 medals.

We are working with the National Archives to speed up this process, however, some of our cases are suffering long delays.

This is outside of our usual expected standards, for which we apologise, and thank you for your patience.

Nuclear Test Veterans Commemorative Medal

On 21 November, the Prime Minister announced the introduction of a commemorative medal to recognise Service personnel and civilians who participated in nuclear testing between 1952 and 1967.The medal will also be available to the next of kin of eligible individuals who have since died.

Those who are entitled to the Nuclear Test Veterans Medal can apply via the medal applications form to the MOD Medal Office however medals will not be dispatched until late summer 2023.

We are currently receiving a high volume of enquiries, particularly regarding The Queens Platinum Jubilee Medal; we are working to respond to all enquires and applications as quickly as possible.

Coronation Medal 1953

The MOD Medal Office is unable to accept and assess applications for Her Majesty The Queens Coronation Medal 1953. (Dec 2018)

Clarification of the qualification criteria for the Accumulated Campaign Service Medal (ACSM) 1994 and 2011

A formal review of the Accumulated Campaign Service Medal policy and qualification criteria has been conducted to resolve ambiguity over how time on operations is counted towards the ACSM. More detailed information about the review, guidance on eligibility and how to apply can be found on The Accumulated Campaign Service Medal (ACSM) 1994 and 2011 Policy Review 2020.

Decorations, Gallantry and Distinguished Conduct medals

You cant apply for these awards. You must be recommended to qualify.

You can read recommendations for honours and awards at The National Archives.

The awards below are listed in the official order of precedence, The letters in brackets are put after a persons surname to show their award.

Victoria Cross (VC)

Victoria Cross

The Victoria Cross

The Victoria Cross is the premier Operational Gallantry award given for most conspicuous bravery, or some daring or pre-eminent act of valour or self sacrifice, or extreme devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy.

It may be awarded to all ranks of the services and civilians and can be awarded posthumously. Individuals who perform a further act of such gallantry which would have merited a second award of the VC would be issued with a bar.

The MOD Medal Office does not issue this award.

George Cross (GC)

George Cross

The George Cross

The George Cross is the premier award given for non-operational gallantry or gallantry not in the presence of an enemy. This is awarded for acts of the greatest heroism or of the most conspicuous courage in circumstances of extreme danger.

The George Cross is equal in stature in the UK honours system to the Victoria Cross, the highest military gallantry award. This has always been the case since the introduction of the award in 1940.

It may be awarded to all ranks of the services and civilians and can be awarded posthumously.

The MOD Medal Office does not issue this award. Replacement awards are available from the Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood.

Orders of the Bath and the British Empire

Read information about the Order of the Bath and the Order of the British Empire.

Distinguished Service Order (DSO)

The Distinguished Service Order is an operational gallantry award given for highly successful command and leadership during active operations. Personnel who perform a further act of such leadership which would have merited a second award of the DSO would be issued with a gold bar.

It may be awarded to all ranks of the services. This award is not available posthumously.

The MOD Medal Office does not issue this award. Replacement awards are available from the Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood.

Conspicuous Gallantry Cross (CGC)

Conspicuous Gallantry Cross

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