R.N.V.R. Long Service & Good Conduct Medal

 

The Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Long Service and Good Conduct Medal, initially designated the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Long Service Medal, was instituted in 1908.

 

The medal was presented for long service and good conduct and was awarded to part-time Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve ratings after 12 years of efficient service, not necessarily continuous - war service counting double for the purpose of determining eligibility for the medal.

 

The medal was a Naval version of the Volunteer Long Service Medal and its successor, the Territorial Force Efficiency Medal. The medal could also be awarded to part-time ratings in the Naval Volunteer Reserves of Dominion and Colonial Auxiliary Forces throughout the British Empire.

 

After 1941 the title of the medal was changed to Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Long Service and Good Conduct Medal.

 

It was one of a pair of Naval long service medals that were instituted simultaneously, the other being the Royal Naval Reserve Long Service and Good Conduct Medal that had different time-served requirements.

 

The two medals are identical and can only be identified by the reserve branch abbreviation impressed on the rim after the recipient's details, ‘R.N.R.’ on the Royal Naval Reserve Long Service and Good Conduct Medal and ‘R.N.V.R.’ on the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Long Service and Good Conduct Medal.

 

Both were initially hung from the same all-green ribbon inherited from the Volunteer Long Service Medal, until a new ribbon was introduced in 1919.

 

When a third identical medal, the Royal Naval Auxiliary Sick Berth Reserve Long Service and Good Conduct Medal, impressed ‘R.N.A.S.B.R.’, was added to the group in 1919, a bar to recognise further periods of 12 years’ service in respect of all three medals was authorised in an Admiralty Fleet Order.

 

This was followed in 1942 by the approval of a ribbon bar rosette, to denote the award of a bar when ribbons alone are worn.

 

In the United Kingdom, the medal and its equivalent award for part-time volunteer Naval officers, the Decoration for Officers of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, were discontinued in 1966, when the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (composed of civilian volunteers), was merged with the Royal Naval Reserve, (composed of Merchant Navy seamen) and was subsequently replaced by its identical sister medal, the Royal Naval Reserve Long Service and Good Conduct Medal, which could be awarded after 15 years of efficient service.

 

On 1 January 1946 Canada was the first to discontinue the award of the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve Long Service and Good Conduct Medal, upon the amalgamation of the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve and the Royal Canadian Navy Reserve. The medal was superseded by the Royal Canadian Navy (Reserve) Medal.

 

In South Africa, the medal was superseded in 1952 by the John Chard Medal, which could be awarded to all ranks of the Citizen Force in all Arms of the Service for 12 years of efficient service and good conduct.

 

New Zealand continues to award the medal as the Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Reserve Long Service and Good Conduct Medal, instituted by Royal Warrant of May 1985, for 15 years of accumulated service during which the rating must have been rated as efficient in at least twelve.

 

Bars were awarded to recognise further periods of 10 years qualifying service.

 

 

The medal is circular, 36mm in diameter and was struck in silver. The obverse of this medal bears the effigy of the reigning monarch at the time that the medal was issued and a corresponding inscription. This is summarised in the table below:-

           

 

* This version was introduced in 1949, after his title was changed from Emperor of India to Monarch of India and reference to India was omitted from the medal inscription.

 

** Unlike all the earlier versions of the medal, the suspension mount of this version was struck in one piece with the medal.

 

The reverse depicts a starboard broadside view of HMS Dreadnought, the Royal Navy battleship that entered service in 1906 with the inscription; ‘DIUTURNE FIDELIS’, (meaning either Faithful Over Time’, or, ‘For Long & Faithful Service’).

 

The ribbon suspender is of the plain, straight and swivelling style riveted to the medal.

 

The recipient's details can be found impressed on the medal's rim.

 

 

Original ribbon

 

 

Ribbon from 1919

 

 

The original ribbon was 32mm wide and dark green. It is identical to the ribbon of the Volunteer Long Service Medal.

 

A new ribbon was introduced in 1919, which was also 32mm wide green in clolour with a narrow red and wider blue stripe along either edge.

 

The ribbon colours are symbolic, with blue representing the sea, red the Royal crimson and green the original Volunteer Long Service Medal ribbon's colour.

 

 

Bars bearing a Royal crown are awarded in recognition of periods of further qualifying lengths of service.

 

In undress uniform or on occasions when the medal ribbon alone is worn, a silver rosette is worn on the ribbon to indicate each bar.

 

Further relevant historical context can be found at the foot of this entry.

 

 

 

* It should be noted that the values quoted above reflect the average price that a medal dealer may expect to sell this medal for - please see the ‘things you should know’ web page for more details about valuing medals.

 

** The individual medal value will vary considerably based on the recipient’s details.