This decoration was instituted on APril 7th 1952 for the War Volunteers that fought "for the duration of the war". Mostly it was awarded to Korea veterans. The medal received a bar on the ribbon. Retro-active it could be awarded to veterans of the First and Second World War.
Medals awarded to volunteers of the Second World War received a bronze bar with the numbers "1940-1945". The medal was awarded with the bars "Coree-Korea", "1914-1918" or "1940-1945"
When the medal was awarded to volunteers of Belgian Army forces that were engaged in actual battle during WW2, volunteers of the first fusileers batallions after the war and resistance fighters, it was received with the bar "PUGNATOR".