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Defence Medal 1939-1945

The Defence Medal was awarded for service in the forces in non-operational areas subjected to air attack or closey threatened for at least three years service in Great Britain until 8th May 1945 or one year in territories overseas until 2 September 1945. In the case of mine and bomb disposal units the time qualification was three months and Canadians serving for one year in Newfoundland were eligible and persons serving for six months in Hong Kong were also eligible. Service in West Africa, Palestine and India, other than operational air crew, qualified also for this award. Those awarded the George Cross or the George Medal for civil defence received this award and the Home Guard also qualified for this award.

Owing to the terms of reference it was not unusual to find a person with this award who had never heard a shot fired, but a person with only the Defence Medal, for example, whilst serving in the rescue services in London earned also this award and only the man who wears this award knows why it was earned.

The award has the coinage head of King George VI on the obverse. The reverse shows the Royal Crown resting above a small oak tree and flanked by two heraldic lions. The dates 1939 and 1945 appear in the top left and right respectively on the reverse, whilst beneath are the words THE DEFENCE MEDAL. The Medal is made of a Cupro-Nickel combination. The Canadian versions however, were made of ".800 fine" silver.

The light green ribbon is 1.25 inches wide with a central stripe of orange, which is 0.5 inches wide, and a narrow black stripe in the middle of each green stripe. The orange (flame colour) represents the enemy attacks on the green land of England and the black stripes represents the black-outs.

Adair, Hugh* August 24th, 1923
† October 27th, 2013

Grid List
NameDate of birthDate of deathAwards
Abel-Smith, Henry08-03-190024-01-1993more
Adair, Allan Henry Shafto03-11-189704-08-1988more
Adair, Hugh24-08-192327-10-2013
Adams, Norman Marcus  
Adams, Ronald George Hinings31-12-189628-03-1979
Addison, William Nathan12-08-191900-10-1989
Adie, Charles George  
Aduckiewicz, Marian02-08-191721-11-2005more
Aertsen, Servaas Klaas26-01-192225-12-1993more
Albert, Earl Thomas01-03-1920 more
Alcock, John "Jack"04-03-191801-01-1997
Alderson, Thomas Hopper  
Allen, Frederick Fernley Edmund12-12-191229-06-2005more
Allen, Robert Swinton24-07-191400-00-1982more
Allen, Roland William John  
Allenberg, William Harry  more
Ambrus, Jan Rozkazom19-05-189921-01-1994more
Ameresekere, Ekanayake Edward Rohan21-05-191620-03-1974more
Anders, Wladyslaw Albert11-08-189212-05-1970more
Anderson, Andy19-09-192523-02-2021
Anderson, Eric15-09-191506-04-1943
Anderson, F.  
Anderson, Hugh Henry27-02-192111-04-1945
Anderson, Jim 07-02-2019
Anderson, John Thompson McKellar "Jock"12-01-191805-10-1943more
Anderson, Margaret Irene11-12-191516-07-1995more
Anderson, Robert Thomas30-12-191905-10-2001
Anderson, William Maurice Eyre "Bill"31-08-190813-12-1986
Andersz, Tadeusz27-10-191829-10-2007more
Andrewartha, Charles Donald "Andy"15-04-191606-09-1973more
Andrews, Wallace Launcelot13-03-190830-07-1944
Andruszko, Michal Stanislaw00-00-191700-00-1987more
Annable, Harold Cecil05-01-191705-06-1983
Annand, Richard Wallace05-11-191424-12-2004more
Annandale, James  
Antonowicz Andrault de Buy, Graf, Mikolaj15-01-191503-04-2000more
Appelboom, Machiel "Max"07-03-192405-11-2003more
Appleford, Joseph Ernest11-01-1917 
Archer, Bertram Stuart Trevelyan03-02-191502-05-2015more
Archer, Ernest Leonard  more
Archer, John Douglas  
Ardagh, Patrick Augustine30-08-189106-04-1944more
Arkel, van, Jan27-08-191923-02-2011more
Armitage, Robert Selby28-03-191001-06-1982
Armstrong, Donald Richard Neville19-07-190700-00-1967
Armstrong, Frederick Finlay00-00-191804-11-1997more
Armstrong, Roy  
Armstrong, Walter Douglas09-12-191916-02-1945
Arnfield, Stanley John03-10-191324-09-1954
Arthur, Lawrence  
Arthur, Wilfred Stanley07-12-191923-12-2000more
Artymiuk, Kazimierz28-08-192013-03-1984more
Ashley, Austin Raymond01-01-1918 
Ashness, Albert  
Ashraf, Mohammad  
Ashurst, Norman24-11-1920 
Ashworth, Arthur 'Artie'03-05-192019-02-1994more
Ashworth, Corran Perry 'Ash'25-09-192103-08-1944more
Atkins, Eric Granville19-03-192122-11-2011more
Auten, Harold22-08-189103-10-1964more
Ayerst, Peter Vigne04-11-192015-05-2014

Sources