Africa Star

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Africa Star
Date	1945
Branch of Service	British and Commonwealth forces
Campaign	Africa 1940-43
Ribbon	Pale buff, with a broad red central stripe, a dark blue stripe on the left and a light blue stripe on the right
Metal	Bronze
Size	Height - 44mm; max. Width - 38mm
Obverse Reverse Plain reverse Clasps 8th Army 1st Army North Africa 1942-43

This article is about the British campaign medal. For the diamond see Star of Africa.

The Africa Star was a campaign medal of the British Commonwealth, awarded for service in World War II.

The star was awarded for a minimum one day service in an operational area of North Africa between 10 June 1940 and 12 May 1943.

The ribbon for this medal, along with those of the other Second World War campaign stars, is reputed to have been designed by King George VI. The sand of the desert is represented by pale buff, the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force are represented by stripes of dark blue, red, and light blue respectively.

[edit] Clasps

• 8th Army

Awarded for service with that army between 23 October 1942 and 12 May 1943. An '8' is worn on the ribbon in undress to denote this bar

• 1st Army

Awarded for service with that army between 23 October 1942 and 12 May 1943. A '1' is worn on the ribbon in undress to denote this bar

• North Africa 1942-43

Awarded for service with the navy, air force or headquarters of the 18th Army Group between 23 October 1942 and 12 May 1943. In undress, a rosette on the ribbon denotes this bar.

[edit] Notes

[edit] Bibliography

• Mackay, J and Mussel, J (eds) - Medals Yearbook - 2006, (2005), Token Publishing.
• Joslin, Litherland, and Simpkin (eds), British Battles and Medals, (1988), Spink