Volunteer Long Service Medal

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Volunteer Long Service Medal
Volunteer Long Service Medal (Victoria).jpg
Queen Victoria version
TypeMilitary long service medal
Awarded forTwenty years service
Country Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom
Presented by the Monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and Empress of India
EligibilityOther ranks and Officers who have served in the ranks of the Volunteer Force
StatusDiscontinued in 1908
Established1894
First awarded1894
Last awarded1908
Total45,000
Ribbon - Volunteer Long Service Medal.png Ribbon - Volunteer Long Service Medal HAC.png
Regular & Honourable Artillery Company ribbon bars
Order of Wear
Next (higher) Volunteer Officers' Decoration
Next (lower) Volunteer Officers' Decoration for India and the Colonies
Related Volunteer Long Service Medal for India and the Colonies

The Volunteer Long Service Medal was instituted in 1894 as an award for long service by other ranks and some officers of the United Kingdom's Volunteer Force. Award of the medal was discontinued when it was superseded by the Territorial Force Efficiency Medal in 1908. [1]

Contents

The grant of the medal was extended in 1896 by the institution of a separate new medal, the Volunteer Long Service Medal for India and the Colonies, that could be awarded to other ranks of all Volunteer Forces throughout the British Empire and India. [2]

Institution

More than sixty years after a medal for long service was introduced for the Regular Army upon the institution of the Army Long Service and Good Conduct Medal in 1830, the first such awards were instituted for the part-time Volunteer Force. [3]

The Volunteer Long Service Medal was established by Queen Victoria in 1894 and its regulations were published in Special Army Order no. 85 of June 1894, as amended. The medal could be awarded to other ranks in the part-time Volunteer Force of the United Kingdom, as well as to officers who had served in the ranks but who had not qualified for the award of the Volunteer Officers' Decoration. [1] [3]

Award criteria

The qualifying period of service was twenty years and the medal could be awarded upon the recommendation by an individual's present or, if retired, former commanding officer. Service had to have been consecutive, with allowance being made for special circumstances. Officer recipients who were subsequently awarded the Volunteer Officers' Decoration would have to surrender the medal. [1] [3]

Colonial version

On 13 June 1896 the grant of the Volunteer Long Service Medal was extended by Queen Victoria to members of Volunteer Forces throughout the British Empire, defined as being India, the Dominion of Canada, the Crown Colonies and the British Protectorates. A separate new medal was instituted, the Volunteer Long Service Medal for India and the Colonies. Institution of this medal was not, as usual, by Royal Warrant but in terms of a special Army Order. This medal was similar in design to the Volunteer Long Service Medal, but bore different inscriptions on the obverse of each monarch's version to include India, the Dominion, the Colonies and the Protectorates as subjects of the reigning monarch. [2]

Order of wear

In the order of wear prescribed by the British Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood, the Volunteer Long Service Medal takes precedence after the Volunteer Officers' Decoration and before the Volunteer Officers' Decoration for India and the Colonies. [4]

Description

The Volunteer Long Service Medal was struck in silver and is a disc, 1.45 inches (37 millimetres) in diameter, with a raised rim on each side. It is suspended from a straight swivelling silver bar, affixed to the medal by means of a claw and a pin through the upper edge of the medal. [1]

Obverse

The obverse of the medal depicts the reigning monarch. Two versions of the Volunteer Long Service Medal were struck. [3]

King Edward VII version Volunteer Long Service Medal (Edward VII).jpg
King Edward VII version
Reverse

The reverse shows a palm and laurel wreath that supports a scrolled banner bearing the inscription "FOR LONG SERVICE IN THE VOLUNTEER FORCE" in four lines. [1]

Ribbons

The medal's regular ribbon is plain dark green and 1+14 inches (32 millimetres) wide. [1] [5]

An administrative oversight resulted in members of the Honourable Artillery Company, reckoned as the oldest regiment of the Royal Army, not being made eligible for the Volunteer Long Service Medal until 1906. To compensate the venerable regiment for this omission, the medal was awarded to its members with a special ribbon to distinguish it from regular awards. This ribbon is dark blue and red, 1+14 inches (32 millimetres) wide and edged with 2½ millimetres wide yellow bands, the household colours of King Edward VII. This special honour was extended in respect of the medal's successors and subsequent incarnations to the present day. [5] [6] [7]

Recipients

More than 45,000 Volunteer Long Service Medals were awarded in the United Kingdom. [5]

Discontinuation

The Volunteer Force was the precursor of the Territorial Force, which was established in the United Kingdom in 1908. At the same time, the award of the Volunteer Long Service Medal was discontinued and superseded by the new Territorial Force Efficiency Medal. [3] [5]

Related Research Articles

Volunteer Officers Decoration Award

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colonial Auxiliary Forces Officers' Decoration</span> Award

The Colonial Auxiliary Forces Officers' Decoration, post-nominal letters VD, was established in 1899 as recognition for long and meritorious service as a part-time commissioned officer in any of the organized military forces of the British Colonies, Dependencies and Protectorates. It superseded the Volunteer Officers' Decoration for India and the Colonies in all these territories, but not in the Indian Empire.

Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Long Service and Good Conduct Medal British Empire naval volunteer medal for part time ratings

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Permanent Forces of the Empire Beyond the Seas Medal Award

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Meritorious Service Medal (Cape of Good Hope) Award

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colonial Auxiliary Forces Long Service Medal</span> Award

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meritorious Service Medal (Natal)</span> Award

In May 1895, Queen Victoria authorised Colonial governments to adopt various British military medals and to award them to members of their local permanent military forces. The Colony of Natal introduced this system in August 1895 and, in 1897, instituted the Meritorious Service Medal (Natal).

Volunteer Officers Decoration for India and the Colonies UK long service medal for volunteer officers

The Volunteer Officers' Decoration was instituted in 1892 as an award for long and meritorious service by officers of the United Kingdom's Volunteer Force. In 1894, the grant of the decoration was extended to commissioned officers of Volunteer Forces throughout the British Empire. A separate new decoration was instituted, the Volunteer Officers' Decoration for India and the Colonies, post-nominal letters VD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Volunteer Long Service Medal for India and the Colonies</span> UK volunteer long service medal

The Volunteer Long Service Medal was instituted in 1894 as an award for long service by other ranks and some officers of the United Kingdom's Volunteer Force. In 1896, the grant of the medal was extended to other ranks and officers who had served in the ranks of the Volunteer Forces throughout the British Empire. A separate new medal was instituted, the Volunteer Long Service Medal for India and the Colonies. Awarding of this medal was discontinued in stages when it was superseded in most territories by the Colonial Auxiliary Forces Long Service Medal in 1899 and in the remainder by the Efficiency Medal in 1930.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Mayo, John Horsley (1897). Medals and Decorations of the British Army and Navy, Vol. II, 1897 (No. 224. Volunteer Long Service, 1894.). London: A. Constable. p. 495.
  2. 1 2 Mayo, John Horsley (1897). Medals and Decorations of the British Army and Navy, Vol. II, 1897 (No. 225. Volunteer Long Service Medal for Indian and Colonial Forces, 1896.). London: A. Constable. p. 499.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Volunteer Force Long Service Medal, awarded to Col. Sgt. R. Bransom between 1894 & 1901". The Fitzwilliam Museum: Watson Medals Catalogue. Archived 2017-12-28 at the Wayback Machine
  4. "No. 56878". The London Gazette (Supplement). 17 March 2003. p. 3353.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 The Military Archive - Volunteer Long Service Medal Archived 28 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine (Accessed 30 June 2015)
  6. "Honourable Artillery Company - Medal Ribbon". The Honourable Artillery Company website. Archived 2009-03-04 at the Wayback Machine
  7. "Honourable Artillery Company of London's Long Service Medal, awarded to Sgt. Tptr W.J. Waterlow, 1906". The Fitzwilliam Museum: Watson Medals Catalogue. Archived 2014-04-08 at the Wayback Machine