The Imperial Yeomanry Long Service Medal was a long service medal awarded by the

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 ...

. It is no longer awarded.

Eligibility

Authorised by

King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria a ...

under Army Order No. 211 of 1904, the medal was awarded to troopers and

non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is a military officer who has not pursued a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks. (Non-officers, which includes most or all enli ...

s in the

Imperial Yeomanry The Imperial Yeomanry was a volunteer mounted force of the British Army that mainly saw action during the Second Boer War. Created on 2 January 1900, the force was initially recruited from the middle classes and traditional yeomanry sources, but su ...

for 10 years service and attending 10 annual camps. Any previous full time service in the Regular Army did not count towards this medal, although service in other volunteer and auxiliary forces could be counted, provided that five years immediately preceding the award were served in the Yeomanry. In 1908, the Imperial Yeomanry along with the

Volunteer Force The Volunteer Force was a citizen army of part-time rifle, artillery and engineer corps, created as a popular movement throughout the British Empire in 1859. Originally highly autonomous, the units of volunteers became increasingly integrated ...

were transferred to the newly created

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry i ...

. The medal was then superseded by the

Territorial Force Efficiency Medal The Territorial Force Efficiency Medal was a United Kingdom award for long service in the Territorial Force between 1908 and 1921. Institution Established in 1908, the medal superseded the Volunteer Long Service Medal and the Imperial Yeomanr ...

. Awards were published in Army Orders, with a total of 1,674 medals awarded, to men in over fifty different Yeomanry regiments, including 951 awards when the medal was first established. Among the recipients was the military artist Harry Payne, who served with the

Queen's Own West Kent Yeomanry The Queen's Own West Kent Yeomanry was a British Army regiment formed in 1794. It served in the Second Boer War and the First World War. It amalgamated with the Royal East Kent (The Duke of Connaught's Own) Yeomanry (Mounted Rifles) to form the ...

Appearance

The Imperial Yeomanry Long Service and Good Conduct Medal is an oval shaped silver medal with a fixed ring suspender at the top. The

obverse Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ''o ...

depicts the bust of King Edward VII in uniform facing left. Around the top edge is the legend, ''EDWARDVS VII REX IMPERATOR''. The reverse bears the words ''IMPERIAL YEOMANRY FOR LONG SERVICE AND GOOD CONDUCT''. The medal hangs from a 32 mm light yellow ribbon threaded through the top ring suspender. The medal was issued with the recipient's name, rank and unit impressed on the rim.

References

{{Efficiency and long service decorations and medals Long and Meritorious Service Medals of Britain and the Commonwealth