Meritorious Service Medal (Australia)
The Australian Meritorious Service Medal (1902–75) was an award given to warrant officers, non-commissioned officers and other ranks for long, meritorious or valuable services to the Australian Army. The medal was awarded to those who had given 22 years of meritorious service and had previously been awarded the Army Long Service and Good Conduct Medal.[1][2][3]
There have been a variety of similar versions of the medal awarded throughout the Commonwealth, including the Meritorious Service Medal (United Kingdom) (Navy, Army and Air Force versions) and the Meritorious Service Medal (New Zealand), each varying with the service, the country and the monarch at the time of the award.[4][5]
Australians were awarded between 1,222 and 1,237 Meritorious Service Medals for gallantry or meritorious service in connection with the First World War.[3][6][7] The Australian War Memorial database contains information on 1,216 ordinary awards of the medal,[8] and 14 awards of the Meritorious Service Medal for Gallantry.[9] The It's an Honour database contains 1,256 entries, but there are many duplicate entries. Neither source provides any information about awards after 1920.
References
- "Australian Meritorious Service Medal 1902–85". Australian War Memorial.
- "Meritorious Service Medal (1902–1975)". Imperial Awards. Itsanhonour.gov.au. 10 July 2014. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
- "Meritorious Service Medal (1916–1928)". Imperial Awards. Itsanhonour.gov.au. 10 July 2014. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
(for non-operational bravery or meritorious service directly connected with the war effort)
- "Medal – Commonwealth of Australia Meritorious Service Medal, King Edward VII, Australia, 1903–1910". museumvictoria.com.au. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
- Meritorious Service Medal Archived 21 January 2015 at Archive.today, heritagemedals.com
- "Military honours and decorations awarded during WWI". Centenary of World War I in Orange. www.centenaryww1orange.com.au. 8 April 2014. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
- "British honours and decorations awarded to officers, nurses and other ranks of the Australian Imperial Force – First World War". Statistics, military. Australian War Memorial.
- "Awards of the MSM". www.awm.gov.au. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
- "Awards of the MSM for Gallantry". www.awm.gov.au. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
External links
- "Australians in World War 1". State Library of Victoria.