The Meritorious Service Medal is a British medal awarded to Senior Non Commissioned Officers and

Warrant Officer Warrant officer (WO) is a Military rank, rank or category of ranks in the armed forces of many countries. Depending on the country, service, or historical context, warrant officers are sometimes classified as the most junior of the commissioned ...

s of the

British armed forces The British Armed Forces are the unified military, military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its British Overseas Territories, Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests ...

for long and meritorious service. From 1916 to 1928, eligibility was extended to cover both valuable services by selected other ranks irrespective of length of service, and for gallantry not in the face of the enemy. Eligibility was widened in December 1977, with the medal now awarded on the same basis to all arms of the

History

The Meritorious Service Medal was instituted on 19 December 1845 for the British Army, to recognise long and meritorious service by

warrant officer Warrant officer (WO) is a Military rank, rank or category of ranks in the armed forces of many countries. Depending on the country, service, or historical context, warrant officers are sometimes classified as the most junior of the commissioned ...

s and

non-commissioned officers A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is an enlisted rank, enlisted leader, petty officer, or in some cases warrant officer, who does not hold a Commission (document), commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority b ...

of the rank of sergeant and above, with a small number of early awards bestowed for gallantry. Recipients were granted an

annuity In investment, an annuity is a series of payments made at equal intervals based on a contract with a lump sum of money. Insurance companies are common annuity providers and are used by clients for things like retirement or death benefits. Examples ...

, the amount of which was based on rank. The first woman to be awarded the medal was Warrant Officer Marion Dickson Mackay,

Women's Royal Army Corps The Women's Royal Army Corps (WRAC; sometimes pronounced acronymically as , a term unpopular with its members) was the corps to which all women in the British Army belonged from 1949 to 1992 except medical, dental and veterinary officers and chap ...

, in 1966.

First World War

During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, as approved by Royal Warrant on 4 October 1916, non-commissioned officers below the rank of Sergeant and men became eligible for the immediate award of the Meritorious Service Medal, without annuity, for valuable services. A further amending warrant on 3 January 1917 confirmed that the medal could be awarded for acts of gallantry in the performance of military duty, not necessarily on active service, or in saving or attempting to save the life of an officer or soldier. For acts of gallantry, however, only the Meritorious Service Medal (United Kingdom) was awarded, irrespective of the recipient's nationality, and not one of the various versions awarded by the Dominions. A clasp to the Meritorious Service Medal was instituted by Royal Warrant on 23 November 1916, that could be awarded to holders of the medal for subsequent acts of gallantry, but not for further long or other valuable service. Seven clasps were awarded. Five members of the

Chinese Labour Corps The Chinese Labour Corps (CLC; ; ) was a labour corps recruited by the British government in the First World War to free troops for front line duty by performing support work and manual labour. The French government also recruited a significant ...

received the medal for their service during the war, including First Class Ganger Yen Teng Feng who, after an explosion at a depot, spent four hours drenching unexploded stacks of ammunition with water. Awards for gallantry ceased after 7 September 1928, as they were honoured by the

Empire Gallantry Medal The Medal of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for Gallantry, known as the Empire Gallantry Medal (EGM), was a British medal awarded for acts of gallantry. Unlike the then existing Sea Gallantry Medal (SGM) (1854), the Albert Meda ...

, with the medal reverting to its original purpose of rewarding long and meritorious service in the army.

Royal Navy and Royal Marines

The medal for Royal Marines was instituted in 1849, and awarded on the same basis as the army medal. As a gallantry medal, it was awarded six times, until superseded by the Naval

Conspicuous Gallantry Medal The Conspicuous Gallantry Medal (CGM) was, until 1993, a British military decoration for gallantry in action for petty officers and seamen of the Royal Navy, including Warrant Officers and other ranks of the Royal Marines. It was formerly awa ...

in 1874. As with the Army, from 1916 NCOs of the Royal Marines could receive the medal for valuable service in the field. Awards were discontinued in 1928. The Royal Navy's medal was instituted in 1919, for gallantry not in the face of the enemy and for meritorious service by

petty officer A petty officer (PO) is a non-commissioned officer in many navies. Often they may be superior to a seaman, and subordinate to more senior non-commissioned officers, such as chief petty officers. Petty officers are usually sailors that have ...

s and senior

naval rating In military terminology, a rate or rating (also known as bluejacket in the United States) is a junior enlisted sailor in a navy who is below the military rank of warrant officer. Depending on the country and navy that uses it, the exact te ...

s. It was not awarded after 1928 and was superseded by the Empire Gallantry Medal and the

British Empire Medal The British Empire Medal (BEM; formerly British Empire Medal for Meritorious Service) is a British and Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth award for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the Monarchy of the United Ki ...

. For awards up to 1928, Royal Navy and Marine recipients were, by custom, allowed to use the letters MSM after their name. Since 1977, the medal has resumed as an award for long and meritorious service by senior petty officers and NCOs in the Royal Navy, Royal Marines and the

Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service (QARNNS) is the nursing branch of the British Royal Navy. The Service unit works alongside the Royal Navy Medical Branch. As of 1 January 2006, according to former Ministry of Defence junior ministe ...

Royal Air Force

The

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

version of the medal was instituted in 1918, for meritorious service not involving flight. It was superseded in 1928 by the Empire Gallantry Medal and the

. Awards of the medal began again in 1977 using the same criteria as the Army.

The Dominions

Meritorious Service Medals were previously awarded by a number of the

Dominion A dominion was any of several largely self-governance, self-governing countries of the British Empire, once known collectively as the ''British Commonwealth of Nations''. Progressing from colonies, their degrees of self-governing colony, colon ...

s, on a similar basis as the British award. These include

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, Canada,

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

Current criteria

Following historic variations between the medals awarded in each of the armed forces, including slight differences in design and in the criteria for the award, the same medal has, since 1977, been issued for all of the services. To be awarded the MSM, an individual must have "good, faithful, valuable and meritorious service, with conduct judged to be irreproachable throughout". Other ranks must have at least twenty years service, must already hold Long Service and Good Conduct Medals, and for the Army and the Royal Air Force must have reached the equivalent rank of sergeant. Officers of any service can also be considered for the medal immediately after being commissioned, provided they meet the other criteria. The number of MSMs awarded is limited: no more than fifty-one a year may be awarded in the Royal Navy and Royal Marines combined, eighty-nine in the Army and sixty in the Royal Air Force, and in practice these numbers are not reached.

Design

The medal is silver and has the sovereign's profile on the obverse, on the reverse a small crown and a wreath surrounding the inscription ''For Meritorious Service''. The recipient's name, rank and unit are inscribed on the rim. If a sovereign is shown in naval uniform, then the medal was awarded for service at sea or with a Naval or Royal Marines unit on land. The obverse design varied by monarch, with George V having at least three effigy variations, while George VI had variations in legend. ;Queen Victoria: An effigy of the young Queen Victoria wearing a

diadem A diadem is a Crown (headgear), crown, specifically an ornamental headband worn by monarchs and others as a badge of Monarch, royalty. Overview The word derives from the Ancient Greek, Greek διάδημα ''diádēma'', "band" or "fillet", fro ...

, facing left. Legend: ''VICTORIA REGINA'' ;King Edward VII: An effigy of the King in Field Marshal's uniform, facing left. Legend: ''EDWARDVS VII REX IMPERATOR'' ;King George V: An effigy of the King in Field Marshal's uniform, facing left. Legend: ''GEORGIVS V BRITT : OMN : REX ET IND : IMP :'' ;King George V: A crowned coinage effigy, facing left. Legend: ''GEORGIVS * V * D * G * BRITT * OMN REX * ET * INDIAE * IMP *'' ;King George VI: A bareheaded effigy, facing left. One of two legends: ''GEORGIVS VI D : G : BR : OMN :REX ET INDIAE IMP:'' or ''GEORGIVS VI DEI GRA; BRITT :OMN : REX FID : DEF :'' ;Queen Elizabeth II: A bareheaded effigy of the Queen, facing right. Legend: ''ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA'' King Charles III : A bareheaded effigy of the King, facing right. Legend: ''CHARLES III DEI GRATIA REX FID DEF''

Ribbon

The medal's ribbon has had various colours: *Army, 1845–1916: crimson *Army, 1916–1917: crimson with white edges *Army, 1917–: crimson with white edges and a white centre stripe *Royal Navy: crimson with white edges and a white centre stripe *Royal Marines: dark blue *Royal Marines (award in the field, 1916–1919): crimson with white edges and a white centre stripe *Royal Air Force, 1918–1928: half blue half crimson with white edges and a white centre stripe *Royal Air Force, 1977–: crimson with white edges and a white centre stripe

References

External links

Search over 5 million campaign medal cards on The UK National Archives' website.
* Current Royal Warrant for the Meritorious Service Medal {{South African military decorations and medals Long and Meritorious Service Medals of Britain and the Commonwealth