South Atlantic Medal

 

Falklands War 1982.

 

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

 

 

The South Atlantic Medal (sometimes known as the Falklands Medal) was a British campaign medal presented for service during the Falklands War. The medal was instituted in 1982 and awarded to both British military personnel and civilians for service following the Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.

 

The medal was awarded (without rosette) for 30 days continuous or accumulated service between 7° and 60° South latitude between 2 April being the date of the Argentine invasion and 14 June 1982 being date of Argentine surrender (completing no later than 12 July 1982).

 

To be awarded the medal with the rosette, (denoting that the entry into the officially recognised ‘war zone’) the recipient would have been required to do one days service within 35° and 60° South latitude or do at least one operational sortie south of Ascension Island, between 2 April and 14 June 1982.

 

The rosette remains an unusual feature for a British medal and was used in this case because otherwise fewer than two hundred medals would have been issued to the Royal Air Force. The vast majority of the medals were issued with a rosette whereas over 90% of the medals issued to the Royal Air Force are without the rosette and thus rarer, the recipients having been stationed on Ascension Island, some 3,300 nautical miles (6,100 km) north of the Falkland Islands and the ‘war zone’.

 

Fewer than 29,700 people were awarded the medal. Members of the Merchant Navy and civilians (such as journalists) were also eligible for the medal.

 

Those awarded the medal are entitled to join ‘The South Atlantic Medal Association’ which was formed in 1997.

 

 

The medal is circular, 36mm in diameter and was struck in cupro-nickel. The obverse of this medal bears the crowned effigy of the Queen and the inscription; ‘ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA FID. DEF.’ (meaning Elizabeth II, by the grace of God, Queen and Defender of the Faith).

 

The reverse depicts the Falkland Islands' coat of arms, which bears the words; ‘DESIRE THE RIGHT’ (an allusion to English explorer John Davis' ship, ‘Desire’). A laurel wreath and the words; ‘SOUTH ATLANTIC MEDAL’ make up the border.

 

The ribbon suspender is of a plain, straight swivelling style attached to a fastening that surmounts the medal.

 

The recipient's details can be found on the medal's rim impressed in sans serif capital letters.

 

 

 

The ribbon is 32mm wide and has a central stripe of ‘sea green’ flanked on each side by stripes of white and blue, shaded and watered - similar to the medal ribbon of the World War II ‘Atlantic Star’.

 

 

Other than the rosette mentioned above - no medal bars were awarded with this medal, but a single bronze oak leaf emblem was issued to be worn on the ribbon to signify that the recipient had been ‘Mentioned in Dispatches’.

 

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.

 

 

This section contains information on:-

 

- The Falklands War.

 

The Falklands War - The Falklands War, also known as the Falklands Conflict, Falklands Crisis and the Guerra del Atlántico Sur (Spanish for 'South Atlantic War'), was a ten-week war between Argentina and the United Kingdom over two British overseas territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.

 

It began on Friday 2 April 1982 when Argentina invaded and occupied the Falkland Islands (and, the following day, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands) in an attempt to establish the sovereignty it has long claimed over them. On 5 April, the British government dispatched a naval task force to engage the Argentine Navy and Air Force before making an amphibious assault on the islands.

 

The conflict lasted 74 days and ended with the Argentine surrender on 14 June 1982, returning the islands to British control. 649 Argentine military personnel, 255 British military personnel and 3 Falkland Islanders died during the hostilities.

 

The conflict was a major episode in the protracted historical confrontation over the territories' sovereignty. Argentina has asserted and maintains that the islands have been Argentinian territory since the 19th century and, as such, the Argentine government characterised their action as the reclamation of their own territory.

 

The British government saw it as an invasion of territory that has been British also since the 19th century. Neither state, however, officially declared war and hostilities were almost exclusively limited to the territories under dispute and the area of the South Atlantic where they lie.

 

The conflict has had a strong impact in both countries and has been the subject of various books, articles, films and songs. Patriotic sentiment ran high in Argentina, but the outcome prompted large protests against the ruling military government, hastening its downfall.

 

In the United Kingdom, the Conservative Party government, bolstered by the successful outcome, was re-elected the following year. The cultural and political weight of the conflict has had less effect in Britain than in Argentina, where it remains a ready topic for discussion.

 

Relations between the United Kingdom and Argentina were restored in 1989 following a meeting in Madrid, Spain, at which the two countries' governments issued a joint statement.  No change in either country's position as regards the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands was made explicit. In 1994, Argentina's claim to the territories was added to its constitution

 

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.