Decoration for Officers of the Royal Naval Reserve

Last updated
Decoration for Officers of the Royal Naval Reserve (Reserve Decoration)
Decoration for Officers of the Royal Naval Reserve, George VI.png
King George VI version, 1937-47
TypeLong service medal
Awarded forAt least fifteen years of active service
Presented bythe United Kingdom Royal Navy Reserve
EligibilityOfficers of the Royal Navy Reserve
Post-nominalsR.D.
StatusSuperseded by the Volunteer Reserves Service Medal
Established1908
Last awarded1999
Royal Naval Reserve Decoration.PNG
Ribbon bar from 1941
Precedence
Next (higher) Special Reserve Long Service and Good Conduct Medal [1]
Equivalent Territorial Decoration
Efficiency Decoration
Air Efficiency Award
Next (lower) Decoration for Officers of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve [1]

The Decoration for Officers of the Royal Naval Reserve, commonly known as the Reserve Decoration (RD) was a medal awarded to officers with at least fifteen years service in the Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) of the United Kingdom. The medal was instituted in 1908. [2]

Contents

Design and eligibility

The medal consists of the cypher of the reigning monarch in silver gilt surrounded by an oval silver cable tied with a reef knot at the base and surmounted by a gilt crown. The reverse is plain, with later issues often engraved with the year of award. [3] The ribbon, suspended from a ring, was dark green until October 1941, and green edged white thereafter. [2]

To qualify, fifteen years' service was required (not counting service as a midshipman), with wartime service counting double. Clasps to the Reserve Decoration were awarded to recognise further periods of 15 years' service after the first award. [3] When just the ribbon of the Decoration was worn, each clasp was indicated by a silver 'rosette' on the ribbon.

The Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Decoration was of the same design as the Reserve Decoration but was distinguished, from 1919, by a different ribbon. In 1966 the Royal Naval Reserve (drawn from the Merchant Navy) and the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (civilian volunteers) were merged. Thereafter awards of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Decoration were discontinued, with all reserve Royal Naval officers eligible for the Reserve Decoration. [4]

The Reserve Decoration and the Royal Naval Reserve Long Service and Good Conduct Medal for RNR ratings were both replaced by a combined-services Volunteer Reserves Service Medal on 1 April 1999. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Distinguished Service Medal (United Kingdom)</span> Military award for bravery and resourcefulness at sea

The Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) was a military decoration awarded until 1993 to personnel of the Royal Navy and members of the other services, and formerly to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, up to and including the rank of Chief Petty Officer, for bravery and resourcefulness on active service at sea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal</span> Award

The Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal or the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2002 to mark the 50th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession in 1952. The Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal was awarded in Canada to nominees who contributed to public life. The Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal was awarded to active personnel in the British Armed Forces and Emergency Personnel who had completed 5 years of qualifying service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1914 Star</span> Award

The 1914 Star, colloquially known as the Mons Star, is a British First World War campaign medal for service in France or Belgium between 5 August and 22 November 1914.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naval General Service Medal (1847)</span> British Royal Navy commendation

The Naval General Service Medal (NGSM) was a campaign medal approved in 1847, and issued to officers and men of the Royal Navy in 1849. The final date for submitting claims was 1 May 1851. Admiral Thomas Bladen Capel was one of the members of the board that authorised the medal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Military General Service Medal</span> Award

The Military General Service Medal (MGSM) was a campaign medal approved in 1847 and issued to officers and men of the British Army in 1848.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Army of India Medal</span> Award

The Army of India Medal (AIM) was a campaign medal approved in 1851 for issue to officers and men of the British Army and the Army of the Honourable East India Company. A retrospective award following the precedent set by the Naval General Service Medal and the Military General Service Medal, it served to reward service in various actions from 1803 to 1826.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British War Medal</span> Award

The British War Medal is a campaign medal of the United Kingdom which was awarded to officers and men and women of British and Imperial forces for service in the First World War. Two versions of the medal were produced. About 6.5 million were struck in silver and 110,000 in bronze, the latter awarded to, among others, the Chinese, Maltese and Indian Labour Corps.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emergency Reserve Decoration</span> Award

The Emergency Reserve Decoration (ERD) was a British military decoration for long service, instituted on 17 November 1952 and given for service up to 1967.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">China War Medal (1900)</span> Award

The China War Medal 1900 was a British campaign medal approved on 1 January 1902 for issue to British and Indian land and sea troops who served during the Boxer Rebellion, between 10 June and 31 December 1900. The medal was issued in silver to combatants and in bronze to native, namely Indian, bearers drivers and servants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reserve Force Decoration</span> Award

The Reserve Force Decoration is an Australian Military award given for long service by officers of the Reserve Forces. It is part of the suite of defence force service awards introduced in 1982, which also included the Defence Force Service Medal and the Reserve Force Medal. However, the RFD is the only one of the three to carry a postnominal entitlement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Decoration for Officers of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve</span> Award

The Decoration for Officers of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, post-nominal letters VD until c. 1947 and VRD thereafter, was instituted in 1908. It could be awarded to part-time commissioned officers in the United Kingdom's Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve after twenty years of service as efficient and thoroughly capable officers. The decoration was a Naval version of the Volunteer Officers' Decoration and its successor, the Territorial Decoration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Volunteer Reserves Service Medal</span> Medal in the British Armed Forces

The Volunteer Reserves Service Medal (VRSM) is a medal which may be awarded to members of the Volunteer Reserves of all branches of the British Armed Forces - the Royal Naval Reserve, the Royal Marines Reserve, the Army Reserve and the Royal Auxiliary Air Force. It replaced the separate decorations and medals awarded respectively to officers and other ranks in each of the services - the Royal Navy's Reserve Decoration and Reserve Long Service and Good Conduct Medal, the British Army's Territorial Decoration and Efficiency Medal, and the Royal Air Force's Air Efficiency Award - from 1 April 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Territorial Efficiency Medal</span> Award

The Territorial Efficiency Medal (TEM) was a United Kingdom award for long service in the Territorial Army. It superseded the Territorial Force Efficiency Medal when the Territorial Force became the Territorial Army in 1921. It was superseded by the Efficiency Medal in 1930.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Territorial Force Efficiency Medal</span> Award

The Territorial Force Efficiency Medal was a United Kingdom award for long service in the Territorial Force between 1908 and 1921.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Efficiency Medal</span> Award

The Efficiency Medal was instituted in 1930 for award to part-time warrant officers, non-commissioned officers and men after twelve years of efficient service on the active list of the Militia or the Territorial Army of the United Kingdom, or of the other Auxiliary Military Forces throughout the British Empire. At the same time a clasp was instituted for award to holders of the medal upon completion of further periods of six years of efficient service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Efficiency Decoration</span> Award

The Efficiency Decoration, post-nominal letters TD for recipients serving in the Territorial Army of the United Kingdom or ED for those serving in the Auxiliary Military Forces, was instituted in 1930 for award to part-time officers after twenty years of service as an efficient and thoroughly capable officer. The decoration superseded the Volunteer Officers' Decoration, the Colonial Auxiliary Forces Officers' Decoration and the Territorial Decoration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Voluntary Medical Service Medal</span> Long service medal of the British Red Cross and St Andrews First Aid

The Voluntary Medical Service Medal is a medal awarded by St Andrew's First Aid and formerly by the British Red Cross. It was instituted in 1932 at the direction of George V.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burma Gallantry Medal</span> Award

The Burma Gallantry Medal (BGM) was a military decoration awarded for acts of gallantry, in both war and peace, by Governor's commissioned officers, non-commissioned Officers and other ranks of the British Burmese military. These included its Army, Frontier Force, Military Police, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve and Auxiliary Air Force. Clasps, attached to the ribbon, could be awarded to mark further awards of the medal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colonial Special Constabulary Medal</span> Award

The Colonial Special Constabulary Medal was established on 1 April 1957 as a volunteer and part-time long service medal of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. On 10 April 2012 the medal became known as the Overseas Territories Special Constabulary Medal, and underwent a minor change in design. This reflected the change in the way Britain's remaining colonies were described, they being classed as 'Overseas Territories' from 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Egypt Medal (1801)</span> East India Company medal for 1801 Egyptian campaign

The Egypt Medal is a campaign medal that was awarded by the Governor-General of India to members of the expeditionary force that travelled from India to take part in the 1801 Egyptian campaign, a part of the French Revolutionary Wars.

References

  1. 1 2 "No. 56878". The London Gazette (Supplement). 17 March 2003. p. 3353.
  2. 1 2 Captain H. Taprell Dorling. Ribbons and Medals. pp. 123–124. A.H.Baldwin & Sons, London. 1956.
  3. 1 2 John Mussell (ed). (2014). Medal Yearbook 2015. p. 227. Published by Token Publishing Ltd. Honiton, Devon. ISBN   978-1-908828-16-3.
  4. John Mussell (ed). (2014). Medal Yearbook 2015. p. 228. Published by Token Publishing Ltd. Honiton, Devon. ISBN   978-1-908828-16-3.
  5. "Medals: campaigns, descriptions and eligibility: Volunteer Reserves Service Medal". GOV.UK. Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 18 October 2020.