Wondering if anyone on the board could help me with some info regarding entitlements to awards during WWII. Friends of mine are trying to trace the service record of their father, who served in 2/7 Survey Battery RAA between June 1942 and September 1946. This apparently included active service in New Guinea, staging through Darwin.

What they are puzzled about, is this: they have a photo of the old Digger in uniform, with the following ribbons on display:1939-45 Star; Pacific Star; War Medal 1939-45; Defence Medal 1939-45; Australian Service Medal 1939-45. When they requested copies of his medals from Canberra, they received only the Pacific Star, War Medal 1939-45, and ASM 1939-45. No '39-45 Star or Defence Medal.

Given that his service seems to entitle him to both these awards (Darwin was an administrative area under air attack from 19 Feb 42, meeting the criteria for the Defence Medal), they wonder why these entitlements were overlooked. Or have the criteria for the awards changed? Grateful for any advice on offer.

Cheers,
Cliff

I can only offer a link: Department of Defence - Defence Honours and Awards

Hope it is of use.

There's a thread on here dealing with family research - military et al, on it I pasted the relevant sites.

Use the Australian War Memorial site for unit history - very comprehensive, additionaly, if your family member was awarded any awards or citations the the details are held here.

Search collection | Australian War Memorial

Use the National Archives of Australia for all personal records of miltary members.

Service records

I have used the sites and have found them an excellent resource.

Originally Posted by CliSwe

Wondering if anyone on the board could help me with some info regarding entitlements to awards during WWII. Friends of mine are trying to trace the service record of their father, who served in 2/7 Survey Battery RAA between June 1942 and September 1946. This apparently included active service in New Guinea, staging through Darwin.

What they are puzzled about, is this: they have a photo of the old Digger in uniform, with the following ribbons on display:1939-45 Star; Pacific Star; War Medal 1939-45; Defence Medal 1939-45; Australian Service Medal 1939-45. When they requested copies of his medals from Canberra, they received only the Pacific Star, War Medal 1939-45, and ASM 1939-45. No '39-45 Star or Defence Medal.

Given that his service seems to entitle him to both these awards (Darwin was an administrative area under air attack from 19 Feb 42, meeting the criteria for the Defence Medal), they wonder why these entitlements were overlooked. Or have the criteria for the awards changed? Grateful for any advice on offer.

Cheers,
Cliff

Ring the War Memorial in Canberra.

They have a computer search facility in the museum that gives the entire service records of WW2 vets.

They are very helpful and would probably supply copies via email.

Many thanks for the replies and suggestions, gents. I'm awaiting a reply to email sent to Defence Honours and Awards, and I'll ring the AWM early tomorrow (I lasted 20 minutes on hold this afternoon).

Cheers,
Cliff

Originally Posted by CliSwe

What they are puzzled about, is this: they have a photo of the old Digger in uniform, with the following ribbons on display:1939-45 Star; Pacific Star; War Medal 1939-45; Defence Medal 1939-45; Australian Service Medal 1939-45. When they requested copies of his medals from Canberra, they received only the Pacific Star, War Medal 1939-45, and ASM 1939-45. No '39-45 Star or Defence Medal.

Given that his service seems to entitle him to both these awards (Darwin was an administrative area under air attack from 19 Feb 42, meeting the criteria for the Defence Medal), they wonder why these entitlements were overlooked. Or have the criteria for the awards changed? Grateful for any advice on offer.

Cheers,
Cliff

Not sure how your friend managed to get "copies of his medals from Canberra" - when my father in law, ex 2/17th Bn, and Tobruk veteran died, his medals disappeared from the nursing home he was at, and we wanted a copy for our children, they would not give us medals, we had to buy them from a medals dealer, reproduction copies only, at a cost of $280 for the full set court mounted, Honours and Awards told us they wont issue medals except to the original awardee and then they are engraved with a R to show they are replacement, so can you tell us, how did they get copies of the medals from Canberra, what reason was used to induce them to issue copies?

Originally Posted by Benjamin1876

Not sure how your friend managed to get "copies of his medals from Canberra" - when my father in law, ex 2/17th Bn, and Tobruk veteran died, his medals disappeared from the nursing home he was at, and we wanted a copy for our children, they would not give us medals, we had to buy them from a medals dealer, reproduction copies only, at a cost of $280 for the full set court mounted, Honours and Awards told us they wont issue medals except to the original awardee and then they are engraved with a R to show they are replacement, so can you tell us, how did they get copies of the medals from Canberra, what reason was used to induce them to issue copies?

Clarification needed here. The Directorate of Honours & Awards - Dept of Defence, replied to my email on the subject the other day. They don't re-issue medals which have already been issued to a deceased serviceman or woman. They offer, however, to assess the individual case if it is thought that awards to which the serviceman/woman was entitled, were not issued to that person. They go on to say that such information can only be released to family members of the deceased.

The query arose because the younger son wanted a duplicate set of his Dad's medals, as held by his elder brother. As in your experience, he was advised to buy copies from a dealer, which he eventually did. The Honours & Awards people attached a copy of their Application for the Posthumous Issue of Medals (see attached), as the basis of a request for assessment. Only reason I became involved, is that I'm a friend of the family - and a bit more computer-literate than they are - and I found the subject fascinating.

Sorry to hear about your father-in-law's medals being lost like that. The 2/17 were the real deal at Tobruk: he would've really earned his Africa Star.

Cheers,
Cliff

Thanks Cliff, what you have now said makes more sense, but when you said that the Honours and awards people issued them, that just amazed me that some could get them but others could not, so your reply now clarifies that, just a choice of your words confused me, as your original post made it sound as they sent new medals to your friend.

Originally Posted by CliSwe

Clarification needed here. The Directorate of Honours & Awards - Dept of Defence, replied to my email on the subject the other day. They don't re-issue medals which have already been issued to a deceased serviceman or woman. They offer, however, to assess the individual case if it is thought that awards to which the serviceman/woman was entitled, were not issued to that person. They go on to say that such information can only be released to family members of the deceased.

The query arose because the younger son wanted a duplicate set of his Dad's medals, as held by his elder brother. As in your experience, he was advised to buy copies from a dealer, which he eventually did. The Honours & Awards people attached a copy of their Application for the Posthumous Issue of Medals (see attached), as the basis of a request for assessment. Only reason I became involved, is that I'm a friend of the family - and a bit more computer-literate than they are - and I found the subject fascinating.

Sorry to hear about your father-in-law's medals being lost like that. The 2/17 were the real deal at Tobruk: he would've really earned his Africa Star.

Cheers,
Cliff

Just an update with, I think, good news. Snail-mail arrived from Honours & Awards, with a new blank Posthumous Issue application. It transpires that the old boy wasn't entitled to the Defence Medal, having embarked through N.Qld (NQ, not NT, as originally thought).

They do, however, point out that he was entitled to the 1939-45 Star, which was "not claimed". The new application form is an invitation to claim. A good outcome, as they can now display two combat awards in their father's name.

Cheers,
Cliff