Medals

Having served I managed to collect the odd medal or two which are dusted off in Novemeber each year, other than that they spend the year in a felt wallet hidden from mind and sight.

Looking at other units I always seem to notice that the RAOC, although Omni present had less medals per head. My passing out parade there were less than 10 medals on display with three officers, 5 instructors in the picture. Granted, up until 1991 the only ones really available where the GSM, UN Cyprus, LSGC with the odd south atlantic medal appearing.

Here are mine

where are yours?

https://i.servimg.com/u/f21/15/61/98/69/111_bm12.jpg

A colourful collection Martin, but shouldn't UK medals be worn before UN medals ..

Len (Ciphers)

No, all campaign medals are now worn in order of receipt, it's rrelevant if NATO, UN or British.

My last units tailor made a dogs ear of mounting them and missed off the bar on the Yugoslav Nato and the small numeral '2' on the same medal.

I also missed out on the Queens Golden Jubilee medal by 17 days - it was awarded to all who were serving at that time and had completed 5 years man service - I left 17 days before it went on issue. Never mind - I'm sure to get the Diamond jubilee medal in 2012

Campaign medals have always been worn in order of award, it's indeed irrelevant if NATO, UN, Euro or British.

Order of wear is - VC/GC, Royal Orders, Other Gallantry, Campaign (by date awarded), Jubilee, Long Service, Foreign.

For a more detailed list see the following 'Orders of Wear' which is published by the Cabinet Honours Committee and is the same as listed in Materials Regulations for the Army:

http://www.direct.gov.uk/prod_consum_dg/groups/dg_digitalassets/@dg/documents/digitalasset/dg_068133.pdf

Its really down to years of service, as the RAOC served everywhere the army did. Between 1960 and 1990 there were not that many places a 'normal' soldier could earn a campaign medal.

The RAOC did receive more GC, GM BEM Gallantry, QGM and MiDs in Northern Ireland than any other unit.

So my order is

UN Medal (Cyprus), then NI Campaign medal? is that right.

I've never worn them, not even had the ribbons on my No 2 dress.

If that's the order in which they were awarded, yes.

No LSGC??

erm, No. Though I have found out I could ask for it retrospectively now Martin, I can't be asrsed to be honest. I suppose decking an Officer is rather naughty though.

LOL.... hell, if it made you happy

On a related vein

In the Sgts mess

Officers invited to the Sgts mess for a do my father told a subaltern he could not dance with my mother - my father smacked the officer - COs orders a few days later and the CO wanted to hear my fathers version of the story.

My parents were married Sir, my father said and the Lt called me a bastard - I took that as a personal insult.

My father received no punishment as the CO was apparently really really old school...

He, the CO, thought that the officers conduct was not that of an officer, insulting a junior ranked soldier and should have chosen a less personal, more eloquint way of expressing his dissatisfaction at not dancing with my mother.

My Father received the LSGC

Sounds like Mess Etiquette has gone out the window then !

(As a matter of interest, was the offending officer an ex - ranker ?)

jim wrote:

erm, No. Though I have found out I could ask for it retrospectively now Martin, I can't be asrsed to be honest. I suppose decking an Officer is rather naughty though.

That little incident will bar you from recieving the LS&GCM. You also have to be a serving Soldier in order to recieve said medal.

Extracted from the MoD medal website.

"though there are a number of offences/misconduct which would normally preclude award of the LS&GCM. Awards are only made after a comprehensive check of a soldier's record of service.

As this medal requires the recommendation of the individuals' commanding officer, it can only be awarded to serving personnel".

I was at one time told the same thing, but on checking found it to be false!

I was lucky not to be courts martialled I suppose. But the one witness present, another Officer refused to give evidence, saying he hadn't seen it. Now he was a good Officer I just got a warning and M&RO were told about the incident. They must have been on y side as well seeing as I got my WOI 3 months later. Oh and I have to say he was an RAOC Officer as well.

I have known at least 2 soldiers I served with who had struck an officer. One was drunk the other an argumentative git (the soldiers, not the officers...lol).

One got the LSGC the other didnt.

It was, I think, up to the CO to reccomend and to write a letter of mitigation if needed.

No you had to write the letter of mitigation (or helped to do so, or even written for you!) then the CO decided to approve and forward to MRO without showing you if he so wanted. MRO could in turn still refuse it, with no reason given.

I know of one case where the solder did not know till 30 years later that his CO in fact recommended he did not get it!

It was an unfair system in some ways that a moments recklessness when you were 18/19 came back to haunt you many years+ later, and a un-cleared Regimental Entry stayed with you for your service life, and beyond!

What's all this about striking officers ?

I joined in '57 and was demobbed in '81. Try as I might I can't remember a single case of an officer being assaulted. (There were plenty who needed it !).

The odd Lance - Jack was about all.

Sadly, assaults were quite common were I was - many said that 6 Ord Bn had become 'penal battallion' of Sven Hassel fame.

A Lance Jack (Rab someoneorother) had a snooker ball in a sock put to his head whilst he slept by a guy called Dot as he refused to give him his beer.

Another chap slapped a warrant officer, and then the other two, one at ASMT Leconfield and the other, I believe at 5 Ord.

Morale wasn't at its height early 90s with redundancies all around.

Also, the Officer Corps was lacking in morale fibre - the CO of 6 Ord came out of RHQ - I came smartly to attention, gave appropriate compliments and was returned with - a sneer.

I couldn't stand the person after that...

A full corporal, MT chap, glassed another Cpl in the NAAFI - opted for, or was remanded for, Courts Martial whilst billeted at 10Regt RCT Catterick Bks.

An RCT Lance Jack at 3 BAD, who drove a stunning Mini, was being hel there whilst awaiting GCM for striking an officer.

It may just have been that time, a one off or I just had the misfortune of bumping into loads of these people however, bullying was at an all time high in the army, in my opinion, with Deepcut and Catterick Garrison being in the press every 2 weeks for assaults, murders etc...

Isn't there a saying to the effect that an Army is only as good as the society it's drawn from ?

For at least fifty years now "discipline" has been called a dirty word.

Now we see the results, it seems.

(How about that police Sgt on the box the other night, throwing that woman about ? Holy shit !).

Yes I saw that Brum, what a brute he is.

Society is changing - when I left the army in 2007 the bullying issue certainly wasn't 100% cleaned up but it was much much better than mid nineties!

That police footage shocked me and he deserves prison for what he did.

jim wrote:

So my order is

UN Medal (Cyprus), then NI Campaign medal? is that right.

I've never worn them, not even had the ribbons on my No 2 dress.

Jim, looking at your photo, you seem to be dressed in "Standard Bearer Order".

When I was a British Legion standard bearer it was required that we wore medals, is it not the same for your organisation ?

Ah No Brum, That was my dress for laying the wreath on behalf of RAOC Online Branch at the Palestine Veterans Association in Eden Camp last year. Oh and for Armistice day every year of course.

Jim, You should get your medals mounted and wear them with pride on these occasions.

I used not to wear mine, but do now on occasions.

..

I have a good friend who mounts medals for a business - if anyone wants I can point you in his direction - he is fully insured and does an outstanding job!