Meritorious Service Medal

Monarch	Issue & Type		Obverse Style & Inscription	Dates
Victoria	1	V:R 1	An effigy of the young Victoria facing left VICTORIA REGINA	1845 - 1901
Edward VII	2	EVII 1	An effigy of the King in Field Marshal's uniform, facing left EDWARDVS VII REX IMPERATOR	1901 - 1910
George V	3	GV 1	An effigy of the King in Field Marshal's uniform, facing left GEORGIVS V BRITT: OMN: REX ET IND: IMP:	1911 - 1930
George V	4	GV 2	An un-crowned coinage effigy of the King, facing left GEORGIVS V BRITT OMN: REX ET INDIAE: IMP:	1931 - 1936
George VI	5	GVI 1	A crowned effigy of the King, facing left GEORGIVS VI G: BR: OMN: REX ET INDIAE IMP:	1937 - 1948
George VI	6	GVI 2	Un-crowned coinage effigy of the King, facing left GEORGIVS VI D: G: BR: OMN: REX F:D: IND: IMP.	1937 - 1948
George VI	7	GVI 3	Un-crowned coinage effigy of the King, facing left GEORGIVS VI D: G: BRITT: OMN: REX FID: DEF:	1949 - 1952
Elizabeth II	8	E:R 1	Un-crowned coinage effigy of the Queen, facing right ELIZABETH II DEI GRA: BRITT: OMN: REGINA F:D: +	1953 - 1954
Elizabeth II	9	E:R 2	Un-crowned coinage effigy of the Queen, facing right ELIZABETH.II. DEI. GRATIA. REGINA. F:D: +	1954 -

Victoria Royal Marine (1948) issue	£1250.00
Victoria Royal Marine issue	£850.00
Victoria Army (Pre 1948) issue	£1750.00
Victoria Army issue	£425.00
Edward VII Royal Marine issue	£750.00
Edward VII Army issue	£350.00
George V Royal Navy issue	£450.00
George V Royal Marine issue	£600.00
George V Army issue - swivel suspender issue	£225.00
George V Army issue - non-swivel issue	£225.00
George V Army 1st issue - Gallantry issue	£425.00
George V Army 1st issue - Meritorious issue	£250.00
George V Army 2nd issue	£425.00
George V Army R.A.F issue	£450.00
George VI Royal Marines issue	£725.00
George VI Army issue 1st issue	£925.00
George VI Army issue	£325.00
Elizabeth II Royal Navy issue	£425.00
Elizabeth II Army 1st issue	£525.00
Elizabeth II Army issue	£375.00
Elizabeth II R.A.F issue	£425.00

 

- British Armed Forces.

- The British Empire.

 

British Armed Forces - The British Armed Forces form the military of the United Kingdom, tasked with defence of the country, its overseas territories and the Crown dependencies; as well as promoting the UK's wider interests, supporting international peacekeeping efforts, and providing humanitarian aid.

 

They consist of: the Royal Navy, a blue-water navy with a fleet of 77 commissioned ships; the Royal Marines, a highly specialised amphibious light infantry force; the British Army, the UK's principal land warfare branch; and the Royal Air Force, a technologically sophisticated air force with a diverse operational fleet consisting of both fixed-wing and rotary aircraft.

 

The Commander-in-chief of the British Armed Forces is the British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, to whom members of the forces swear allegiance. However the British parliament maintains the armed forces during times of peace with the passing of quinquennial armed forces acts. The armed forces are managed by the Defence Council of the Ministry of Defence, headed by the Secretary of State for Defence.

 

The UK is an active and regular participant in NATO and other coalition operations. The country is also party to the Five Power Defence Arrangements. Recent operations have included wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the 2000 intervention in Sierra Leone, peacekeeping responsibilities in the Balkans and Cyprus, and participation in the UN-mandated no-fly zone over Libya. Overseas garrisons and facilities are maintained at Ascension Island, Belize, Brunei, Canada, Diego Garcia, the Falkland Islands, Germany, Gibraltar, Kenya, Qatar and Cyprus.

 

The United Kingdom tested its first nuclear weapon under Operation Hurricane in 1952, becoming the third nation in the world to achieve the status of a nuclear power. As of 2012, Britain remains one of five recognised nuclear powers, with a total of 225 nuclear warheads. Of those, no more than 160 are deployed and active. Its nuclear deterrence system is based on Trident missiles on board ballistic missile submarines.

 

This information was taken from ‘Wikipedia’. The original article and details of the authors can be found here. It is reproduced on this web-site under the ‘creative commons’ licence which can be found here.

 

The British Empire - The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas possessions and trading posts established by England between the late 16th and early 18th centuries.

 

At its height, it was the largest empire in history and, for over a century, was the foremost global power. By 1922 the British Empire held sway over about 458 million people, one-fifth of the world's population at the time.

 

The empire covered more than 33,700,000 km2 (13,012,000 sq mi), almost a quarter of the Earth's total land area. As a result, its political, legal, linguistic and cultural legacy is widespread. At the peak of its power, the phrase ‘the empire on which the sun never sets’ was often used to describe the British Empire, because its expanse around the globe meant that the sun was always shining on at least one of its territories.

 

During the Age of Discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal and Spain pioneered European exploration of the globe, and in the process established large overseas empires. Envious of the great wealth these empires generated, England, France, and the Netherlands began to establish colonies and trade networks of their own in the Americas and Asia.

 

A series of wars in the 17th and 18th centuries with the Netherlands and France left England (and then, following union between England and Scotland in 1707, Great Britain) the dominant colonial power in North America and India.

 

The independence of the Thirteen Colonies in North America in 1783 after the American War of Independence caused Britain to lose some of its oldest and most populous colonies. British attention soon turned towards Asia, Africa, and the Pacific. Following the defeat of Napoleonic France in 1815, Britain enjoyed a century of almost unchallenged dominance and expanded its imperial holdings around the globe. Increasing degrees of autonomy were granted to its white settler colonies, some of which were reclassified as dominions.

 

By the start of the twentieth century, Germany and the United States had eroded some of Britain's economic lead. Subsequent military and economic tensions between Britain and Germany were major causes of the First World War, during which Britain relied heavily upon its empire. The conflict placed enormous strain on the military, financial and manpower resources of Britain.

 

Although the empire achieved its largest territorial extent immediately after World War I, Britain was no longer the world's pre-eminent industrial or military power. In the Second World War, Britain's colonies in South-East Asia were occupied by Japan. Despite the final victory of Britain and its allies, the damage to British prestige helped to accelerate the inevitable decline of the empire.

 

India, Britain's most valuable and populous possession, achieved independence as part of a larger decolonisation movement in which Britain granted independence to most of the territories of the Empire. The political transfer of Hong Kong to China in 1997 marked for many the end of the British Empire.

 

Fourteen overseas territories remain under British sovereignty. After independence, many former British colonies joined the Commonwealth of Nations, a free association of independent states. Sixteen Commonwealth nations share their head of state, Queen Elizabeth II, as Commonwealth realms.

 

This information was taken from ‘Wikipedia’. The original article and details of the authors can be found here. It is reproduced on this web-site under the ‘creative commons’ licence which can be found here.

 

End of database.