World War I medal abbreviations

Contents

World War I - Medal and Medal Card Abbreviations

When a World War I medal was issued, it was issued with a Service Number, Rank, Name and Regiment. This information should be on every medal that was issued during the First World War.

During World War I, there were four main medals issued, these were 1914 Star, 1914-15 Star, Victory Medal, British War Medal. Although these four were the main medals issued there were many other medals around in World War I.

Service Number

From a service number it is sometimes possible to determine in which part of the army a medal holder served. However, this is not always the case; this does not apply to the Silver War Badge (SWB), which has its own code.

Prefix letters and numbers

Here is a list of all the Prefix Letter & Numbers, remember it may not be 100% correct.

Thanks to http://www.britishmedalforum.com for this Information

Abbreviations for Rank and Unit

There are many abbreviations for the rank and unit of a man. The National archive gives full listings of both Ranks and Units in which he might have served.[1][2]

Medal Card Abbreviations

Theatres Of War Up to 31 December 1915 ---- From 1 January 1916

1.......................................1 Western Europe

.........................................a France and Belgium
.........................................b Italy

2.......................................2 Balkans

.........................................a Greek Macedonia, Serbia, Bulgaria and European Turkey
.........................................b Gallipoli (Dardanelles)

3.......................................3 Russia (4–5 August 1914 to 1–2 July 1920)

4.......................................4 Egypt

.........................................a 4–5 November 1914 to 18–19 March 1916
.........................................b 18–19 March 1916 to 31 October - 1 November 1918

5.......................................5 Africa

.........................................a East Africa, Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia
.........................................b South West Africa
.........................................c Cameroon
.........................................d Nigeria
.........................................e Togoland

6.......................................6 Asia

.........................................a Hedjaz
.........................................b Mesopotamia
.........................................c Persia
.........................................d Trans Caspia
.........................................e South West Arabia
.........................................f Aden
.........................................g Frontier regions of India
.........................................h Tsingtau

7.......................................7 Australasia

.........................................a New Britain
.........................................b New Ireland
.........................................c Kaiser Wilhelmland
.........................................d Admiralty Islands
.........................................e Nauru
.........................................f German Samoa

See also

References

  1. ^ rank abbreviations National Archives
  2. ^ units abbreviations National Archives.

External links