Medal, The Africa Star: Second World War
The Star was awarded for one or more day’s service in North Africa between 10 June, 1940 and 12 May, 1943, both dates inclusive.
Navy and Merchant Navy – For any service at sea in the Mediterranean between 10 June, 1940 and 12 May, 1943.
Army – The qualification is the entry into North Africa on the establishment of an operational unit.
R.A.F – The qualification was to have landed in, or flown over, any of the areas previously.
Description: Most British medals and clasps are made of solid silver, though some were issued in bronze versions, mainly to Indian non-combatants. The majority of the British campaign awards are circular, usually 36mm in diameter.
Ribbons: Medals are worn suspended from their own specific ribbons. Their colours often have a symbolic significance: the equal stripes of the ‘1939 to 1945 Star”,
for example, are dark blue to represent the Royal and Merchant Navies service, red, to represent the Armies, and light blue to represent Air Forces.
The ribbon is 32 millimeters wide, with a 5 millimeters wide pale buff band, a 1½ millimeters wide Navy-blue band, a 5 millimeters wide pale buff band, a 9 millimeters wide Army red band, a 5 millimeters wide pale buff band, a 1½ millimeters wide Air Force blue band and a 5 millimeters wide pale buff band. The pale buff represents the sand of the Sahara Desert.
Medal, Burma Star
Institution: The Burma Campaign took place between 11 December 1941 and 2 September 1945, commencing with Japanese forces invading Burma and driving British forces back to the Indian border. Since the Japanese held superiority in the Pacific, the Allies were not able to strike back and to regain a foothold in Burma until early in 1944. Total surrender of the Japanese came on 2 September 1945.
The Burma Star was instituted by the United Kingdom in May 1945 for those who had served in operations in the Burma Campaign from 11 December 1941 to 2 September 1945.
Eligibility and Criteria: The eligibility and criteria for the award of the Burma Star were different for service at sea, on land and in the air.
Description: They are six–pointed stars, struck in yellow, copper-zinc alloy to fit into a 44 mm diameter circle, with a maximum width of 38 mm and height of 50 mm from the bottom point of the star to the top of the eyelet.
Obverse: The obverse has a central design of the Royal Cypher “GRI VI“, surmounted by a crown. A circlet, the top of which is covered by the crown, surrounds the cypher and is inscribed “THE BURMA STAR“.
Reverse: The reverse is plain.
Ribbon: The ribbon is 32 mm wide, with a 3½ mm-wide navy-blue band, a 4-mm-wide dark yellow band and a 3½ mm-wide navy-blue band, repeated and separated by a 10-mm-wide Army red band. The dark blue bands represent British Naval forces, the red band represents the Commonwealth Armies and the dark yellow bands represent the sun. The ribbons for this medal were devised by King George VI.
Historical notes: During this period, 1672 Canadians were involved, of which 176 were killed, mostly by ground fire.