England Military Records: Difference between revisions

England Military Records (view source)

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 The RAF maintains its own records archive although officers papers are downloadable (£) from TNA here: [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/browse-refine.asp?CatID=43&searchType=browserefine&pagenumber=1&query=*&queryType=1 RAF Officers records.]&nbsp;Other ranks service records are not online but if service ended prior to 1920, can be accessed at TNA. Post-1920 records are dealt with in the same way as army &amp; Navy records under FOI requests(see above).
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 There are a large number of records held at TNA that can be researched such as Station and Squadron record books; photo albums and so forth.<br><br>
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+= '''Medals'''  =
+'''Campaign Medals:'''
+Tokens or medals have been awarded to British service personnel since the medieval times although the first officially recognised campaign medal is the Military General Service Medal instituted in 1847 and awarded to all army personnel that had served on active campaigns between 1793-1815. Each medal was named to the recipient along with his unit details. A clasp (sometimes incorrectly referred to as a bar) bearing the name of the relevant campign or battle was attached to the ribbon suspension, with subsequent clasps being added in the sequence in which they were earned. In some cases 10 or more campaign clasps were earned. 29 clasps were authorised in total. In total over 25,000 medals were issued.
+The Royal Navy instituted its own equivalent, the Naval General Service Medal, also in 1847 but covering the slightly longer period of 1793-1840. Whilst a staggering 231 campaign clasps were authorised, not all were issued. The most clasps issued to any single recipient was 7. As the medal was authorised some considerable time after most of the&nbsp;campaigns and battles had taken place, and also due to widespread illiteracy, a&nbsp;large number of men did not claim their medals. In total just over 20,000 medals were issued.
+These two medals started a precedent of&nbsp;issuing campaign medals that still continues to this day, with the RAF joining the process in 1918 by following the lead set by the Army. It is a widely collected field and there are many resources on the subject. From a&nbsp;family history perspective, knowing what medals a relative was entitled to can lead to&nbsp;fascinating&nbsp;journies of discovery as well as the medal themselves providing useful information.&nbsp;
-= '''Medals''' =
 WW1 Army medal&nbsp;index cards&nbsp;are also available through [http://www.ancestry.co.uk www.ancestry.co.uk]&nbsp; - if you have a subscription they are free. Otherwise you will have to pay £2 fee to download it if you get it through&nbsp;The National Archives website: [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/browse-refine.asp?CatID=10&searchType=browserefine&pagenumber=1&query=*&queryType=1 Medal Index Cards]
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