British Red Cross Society Medal For War Service

 

World War I.

 

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

 

 

The medal was instituted in 1920 and was awarded to members of the British Red Cross Society or its Voluntary Aid Detachments who served in the U.K. during the period 4 August 1914 to 31 December 1919 and were therefore not eligible for British military medals and who had undertaken at least a thousand hours of unpaid service or had been ambulance drivers and stretcher bearers who had given at least 500 hours of unpaid service.

 

The British National Society for Aid to the Sick and Wounded in War was formed in August 1870 and gave relief to both Prussian and French armies in the war of that year. In 1905 the Society was reconstituted as the British Red Cross Society with Queen Alexandra as its President.

 

Throughout World War I, Red Cross volunteers worked in hospitals, convalescent homes, rest stations, packing centres, medical supply depots and work parties. The Society also supplied motorised ambulances to battlefields and set up centres for the wounded in France.

 

 

The medal is circular, 31mm in diameter and was struck in bronze-gilt. The obverse of this medal depicts a Geneva (Greek) cross centrally within a laurel wreath and the inscription; ‘BRITISH RED CROSS SOCIETY: FOR WAR SERVICE: 1914-1918’.

 

The reverse is inscribed; ‘INTER ARMA CARITAS’ (Mercy between armies) within a laurel wreath.

 

The medal was suspended by a small ring mounted to the top of the medal.

 

This medal was issued un-named.

 

 

 

The ribbon is 32mm wide and is plain white in colour.

 

 

None were authorised for this medal.

 

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.

 

 

This section contains information on:-

 

- The British Red Cross.

 

The British Red Cross - Following the start of the 'Great War' in 1914, the British Red Cross joined forces with the Order of St. John Ambulance to form the Joint War Committee.

 

They pooled resources and formed Voluntary Aid Detachments (or VADs) with members trained in First Aid, Nursing, Cookery, Hygiene and Sanitation. These detachments all worked under the protection of the Red Cross, working in hospitals, rest stations, work parties and supply centres.

 

The Joint War committee also provided assistance at the front line, supplying the first motorised ambulances to the battlefields, which were significantly more efficient then the horse drawn ambulances they replaced.

 

The Joint War Committee was also active in setting up centres for recording the wounded and missing. Red Cross volunteers searched towns, villages and hospitals where fighting had occurred, noting names of the missing, the injured and the dead. This formed the basis of the international Message and Tracing service, still running today.

 

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.