Victory Medal awarded to LATE KRIPAMAY BOSE (INDIA)

The Victory Medal (also called the Inter-Allied Victory Medal) is a

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

campaign medal A campaign medal is a military decoration which is awarded to a member of an armed force who serves in a designated military operation or performs duty in a geographical theater. Campaign medals are very similar to service medals but carry a high ...

. The award of a common allied campaign medal was recommended by an inter-allied committee in March 1919. Each allied nation would design a 'Victory Medal' for award to their own nationals, all issues having certain common features, including a winged figure of

victory The term victory (from Latin ''victoria'') originally applied to warfare, and denotes success achieved in personal Duel, combat, after military operations in general or, by extension, in any competition. Success in a military campaign constitu ...

on the obverse and the same ribbon. Fourteen countries finally awarded the medal.

Eligibility

The Victory Medal (United Kingdom) was issued to all those who received the

1914 Star The 1914 Star, colloquially known as the Mons Star, is a British World War I campaign medal for service in France or Belgium between 5 August and 22 November 1914. Institution The 1914 Star was authorised under Special Army Order no. 350 in Nov ...

or the 1914–15 Star, and to most of those who were awarded the

British War Medal The British War Medal is a campaign medal of the United Kingdom which was awarded to officers and men of British and Imperial forces for service in the First World War. Two versions of the medal were produced. About 6.5 million were struck in si ...

. It was not awarded singly. To qualify, recipients need to have served in the armed forces of the United Kingdom or the British Empire, or with certain recognised voluntary organisations, and have entered any theatre of war between 5 August 1914 and 11 November 1918. While home service did not count, United Kingdom based members of the

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

who were actively engaged in the air against the enemy did qualify, as did those who flew new planes to France. Women qualified for this and other First World War campaign medals while serving in nursing and auxiliary forces in a theatre of war. It was also awarded for mine clearance in the North Sea between 11 November 1918 and 30 November 1919 and for participation in the

Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War or Allied Powers intervention in the Russian Civil War consisted of a series of multi-national military expeditions which began in 1918. The Allies first had the goal of helping the Czechoslovak Leg ...

up to 1 July 1920.

Description

Winged_Victory,_Victoria_Memorial,_London

* The medal is bronze, circular and in diameter. While originally to be of dull bronze, the final award had a clear lacquer coating, giving it a bright finish. It was designed by William McMillan. Medal, campaign (AM 800720-1)

* The obverse shows the winged, full-length, full-front, figure of 'Victory' (or '

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

') with her left arm extended and holding a palm branch in her right hand, similar to the statue surmounting the Queen Victoria Memorial, in front of

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...

in London. * The reverse has the words "THE GREAT / WAR FOR / CIVILISATION / 1914–1919" in four lines, all surrounded by a

laurel wreath A laurel wreath is a round wreath made of connected branches and leaves of the bay laurel (), an aromatic broadleaf evergreen, or later from spineless butcher's broom (''Ruscus hypoglossum'') or cherry laurel (''Prunus laurocerasus''). It is a sy ...

. * The wide watered ribbon has an

iridescent Iridescence (also known as goniochromism) is the phenomenon of certain surfaces that appear to gradually change color as the angle of view or the angle of illumination changes. Examples of iridescence include soap bubbles, feathers, butterfl ...

colour scheme, with the violet moving through to a central red stripe where both schemes meet. It attaches to the medal through a ring suspender. * The recipient's name, rank, service number and unit were impressed on the edge of the medal. The name of the regiment or corps was omitted on medals awarded to Army officers."British First World War Service Medals"
Imperial War Museum. Accessed 7 July 2018. * Those

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

between 4 August 1914 and 10 August 1920 wear a bronze oak leaf spray on the medal's ribbon, with a smaller version on the ribbon bar when medals were not worn.

Nicknames

The three First World War medals, either one of the

or the 1914–15 Star, the

and the Victory Medal, were collectively irreverently referred to as ''

Pip, Squeak and Wilfred ''Pip, Squeak and Wilfred'' was a British strip cartoon published in the ''Daily Mirror'' from 1919 to 1956 (with a break c. 1940–1950), as well as the ''Sunday Pictorial'' in the early years. It was conceived by Bertram Lamb, who took the role ...

'', after three comic strip characters, a dog, a penguin and a rabbit, which were popular in the immediate post-war era. ''Pip'' represented either of the two Stars, ''Squeak'' represented the British War Medal and ''Wilfred'' represented the Victory Medal. When only the British War Medal and Victory Medal were worn together, they were referred to as ''

Mutt and Jeff ''Mutt and Jeff'' was a long-running and widely popular American newspaper comic strip created by cartoonist Bud Fisher in 1907 about "two mismatched tinhorns". It is commonly regarded as the first daily comic strip. The concept of a newsp ...

'', after contemporary newspaper comic strip characters."A Guide to British Campaign Medals of WW1"
''The Great War 1914–1918''.

Order of wear

The order of wear of medals awarded for service during the First World War is as follows: *

* 1914–15 Star *

Mercantile Marine War Medal The Mercantile Marine War Medal was established in 1919 and awarded by the Board of Trade of the United Kingdom to mariners of the British Mercantile Marine (later renamed the Merchant Navy) for service at sea during the First World War.

* Victory Medal *

Territorial Force War Medal The Territorial Force War Medal was a campaign medal awarded to members of the Territorial Force, British Territorial Force and Territorial Force Nursing Service who served overseas in World War I. It is the rarest of the five British Great War ...

International award

In March 1919 a committee in Paris comprising representatives from the various allied powers recommended the award of an inter-allied campaign medal of common design,"The Type I Victory Medal 1914–19". Richard Flory. ''Orders & Medals Research Society Journal'', September 2009, page 145 thereby avoiding the need for allied nations to exchange campaign medals. Each allied country designed its own version, following certain common criteria. The medal was to be in bronze with a 36 mm diameter, having a winged figure of victory on the obverse, a common inscription on the reverse and suspension by a double rainbow design ribbon. Japan and Siam replaced the figure of victory, since a winged victory symbol was not culturally relevant. The following versions were finally awarded:

References

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

Victory Medal on the UK Parliament websiteTranscription of Admiralty and Military orders for the VM hosted on the Australian DoD website
*
Searchable database of medal cards
at

The National Archives National archives are central archives maintained by countries. This article contains a list of national archives. Among its more important tasks are to ensure the accessibility and preservation of the information produced by governments, both ...

{{New Zealand campaign medals Decorations of the British Army British campaign medals Australian campaign medals New Zealand campaign medals Interallied Victory Medals of World War I Awards established in 1919