Volunteer Long Service Medal
Volunteer Long Service Medal | |
---|---|
![]() Queen Victoria version | |
Type | Military long service medal |
Awarded for | Twenty years service |
Country | ![]() |
Presented by | the Monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and Empress of India |
Eligibility | Other ranks and Officers who have served in the ranks of the Volunteer Force |
Status | Discontinued in 1908 |
Established | 1894 |
First awarded | 1894 |
Last awarded | 1908 |
Total | 45,000 |
![]() ![]() 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 Award of the medal was discontinued when it was superseded by the Territorial Force Efficiency Medal in 1908.[1]
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]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/Volunteer_Long_Service_Medal_%28Edward_VII%29.jpg/220px-Volunteer_Long_Service_Medal_%28Edward_VII%29.jpg)
- The original version of 1894, created by George William de Saulles, shows the effigy of Queen Victoria wearing the Crown, a veil and the Star of the Order of the Garter. The effigy is circumscribed "VICTORIA REGINA". This version's suspender is affixed to the medal by means of a double-toe claw. Some Queen Victoria versions of the medal were awarded up to the Army Order of July 1902, post-dating her death.[1][5]
- The King Edward VII version, introduced after his succession to the throne in 1901, displays his effigy in Field Marshal's uniform and is circumscribed "EDWARDVS VII REX IMPERATOR". This version's suspender is affixed to the medal by means of a single-toe claw.[3]
- 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+1⁄4 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+1⁄4 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]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g 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.
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ a b c d e f "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
- ^ "No. 56878". The London Gazette (Supplement). 17 March 2003. p. 3353.
- ^ a b c d e The Military Archive - Volunteer Long Service Medal Archived 28 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine (Accessed 30 June 2015)
- ^ "Honourable Artillery Company - Medal Ribbon". The Honourable Artillery Company website.Archived 2009-03-04 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "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
- v
- t
- e
meritorious
and long
service medals
Meritorious Service Medal
Meritorious Service Medal (Australia)
Meritorious Service Medal (Cape of Good Hope)
Meritorious Service Medal (Natal)
Meritorious Service Medal (New Zealand)
Meritorious Service Medal (South Africa)
Accumulated Campaign Service Medal
Army Long Service and Good Conduct Medal
Army Long Service and Good Conduct Medal (Cape of Good Hope)
Army Long Service and Good Conduct Medal (Natal)
Permanent Forces of the Empire Beyond the Seas Medal
Medal for Long Service and Good Conduct (Military)
Medal for Long Service and Good Conduct (South Africa)
Naval Long Service and Good Conduct Medal (1830)
Naval Long Service and Good Conduct Medal (1848)
Indian Long Service and Good Conduct Medal (for Europeans of Indian Army)
Indian Meritorious Service Medal (for Europeans of Indian Army)
Royal Air Force Long Service and Good Conduct Medal
Medal for Long Service and Good Conduct (Ulster Defence Regiment)
Indian Long Service and Good Conduct Medal (for Indian Army)
Royal West African Frontier Force Long Service and Good Conduct Medal
King's African Rifles Long Service and Good Conduct Medal
Royal Sierra Leone Military Forces Long Service and Good Conduct Medal
Trans-Jordan Frontier Force Long Service and Good Conduct Medal
Indian Meritorious Service Medal (for Indian Army)
service medals
Police Long Service and Good Conduct Medal
Fire and Rescue Service Long Service and Good Conduct Medal
African Police Medal for Meritorious Service
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Long Service Medal
Ceylon Police Long Service Medal
Ceylon Fire Services Long Service Medal
Sierra Leone Police Long Service Medal
Colonial Police Long Service Medal
Sierra Leone Fire Brigades Long Service Medal
Mauritius Police Long Service and Good Conduct Medal
Mauritius Fire Services Long Service and Good Conduct Medal
Mauritius Prisons Service Long Service and Good Conduct Medal
Colonial Fire Brigades Long Service Medal
Colonial Prison Service Medal
Hong Kong Disciplined Services Medal
Ambulance Service (Emergency Duties) Long Service and Good Conduct Medal
Royal Fleet Auxiliary Service Medal
Prison Services (Operational Duties) Long Service and Good Conduct Medal
Royal Ulster Constabulary Service Medal
Northern Ireland Prison Service Medal
National Crime Agency Long Service and Good Conduct Medal
Police Service of Northern Ireland Service Medal
Border Force and Immigration Enforcement Long Service and Good Conduct Medal
and part-time
long service
decorations
and medals
Emergency Reserve Decoration
Volunteer Officers' Decoration
Volunteer Long Service Medal
Volunteer Officers' Decoration for India and the Colonies
Volunteer Long Service Medal for India and the Colonies
Colonial Auxiliary Forces Officers' Decoration
Colonial Auxiliary Forces Long Service Medal
Militia Long Service Medal
Imperial Yeomanry Long Service Medal
Special Reserve Long Service and Good Conduct Medal
Territorial Decoration
Ceylon Armed Services Long Service Medal
Efficiency Decoration
Territorial Force Efficiency Medal
Territorial Efficiency Medal
Efficiency Medal
Army Emergency Reserve Efficiency Medal
Decoration for Officers of the Royal Naval Reserve
Decoration for Officers of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve
Royal Naval Reserve Long Service and Good Conduct Medal
Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Long Service and Good Conduct Medal
Royal Naval Auxiliary Sick Berth Reserve Long Service and Good Conduct Medal
Royal Fleet Reserve Long Service and Good Conduct Medal
Royal Naval Wireless Auxiliary Reserve Long Service and Good Conduct Medal
Royal Naval Auxiliary Service Long Service Medal
Air Efficiency Award
Volunteer Reserves Service Medal
Ulster Defence Regiment Medal
Northern Ireland Home Service Medal
Cadet Forces Medal
H.M. Coastguard Long Service and Good Conduct Medal
Special Constabulary Long Service Medal
Royal Observer Corps Medal
Civil Defence Long Service Medal
Jersey Honorary Police Long Service and Good Conduct Medal
Service Medal of the Order of St John
Voluntary Medical Service Medal
Women's Royal Voluntary Service Medal
South African Medal for War Services
Colonial Special Constabulary Medal