Decoration For Officers Of The R.N.R.
History
The Decoration for Officers of the Royal Naval Reserve known as the Royal Navy Reserve Decoration was instituted in 1908. The medal was presented for long service to officers who had completed a minimum of 15 years’ service in the Royal Naval Reserve - war service counting double for the purpose of determining eligibility for the medal.
It was one of a pair of decorations that were instituted simultaneously, the other being the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Decoration. The badges of these two decorations are identical and both initially hung from the same all-green ribbon, until a new ribbon was introduced for the Decoration for Officers of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve in 1919.
The decoration was also awarded by several countries in the British Empire. South Africa adopted it in 1915, two years after the South African Division of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve was established on 1 July 1913.
New Zealand adopted it in 1925 when the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (New Zealand) was established, and Canada adopted it as the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve Officers' Decoration in 1938, when the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve was stablished.
Bars were awarded to recognise further periods of 10 years qualifying service.
In 1966 the decoration For Officers Of The Volunteer Royal Naval Reserve was merged with this award when Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (composed of civilian volunteers), was merged with the Royal Naval Reserve, (composed of Merchant Navy seamen).
The award was discontinued in April 1999, and replaced by the Volunteer Reserves Service Medal.
Description
The medal is oval, 35mm wide and 56mm in height and was struck in silver and silver gilt. The obverse of this medal contains the cypher of the reigning monarch in silver gilt surrounded by a silver rope tied with a reef knot at the base and surmounted by a gilt crown, which acts as the ribbon suspension. Five versions of the decoration have been awarded, this is summarised as follows:-
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The centre of the decoration's original version of 1908 has the Royal Cypher; ‘ERVII’ of King Edward VII, for ‘Edwardvs Rex VII’, with the reef knot ‘facing’ left.
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The King George V version, with his Royal Cypher; ‘GVR’ for ‘Georgivs V Rex’, was introduced after his succession to the throne in 1910. This version also has the reef knot ‘facing’ left.
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The first King George VI version, introduced after his succession to the throne in 1936, has his Royal Cypher; ‘GRI’ for ‘Georgivs Rex Imperator’. This version has the reef knot ‘facing’ right.
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The second King George VI version, with his Royal Cypher; ‘GVIR’ for ‘Georgivs VI Rex’, was introduced in the late 1940s. This version also has the reef knot ‘facing’ right.
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The Queen Elizabeth II version, with her Royal Cypher; ‘EIIR’ for ‘Elizabeth II Regina’, was introduced after her succession to the throne in 1952. This version also has the reef knot ‘facing’ right.
The reverse is smooth and undecorated, with the year the decoration was awarded impressed on the back of the reef knot on decorations awarded in the United Kingdom, or engraved named to the recipient in other countries.
The ribbon suspender is a ring formed of silver wire that passes through a small ring affixed to the top back of the crown that surmounts the medal.
Ribbon
Original Issue
Ribbon from 1941
The ribbon is 38mm wide and dark green in colour. In 1941 the ribbon changed to include a thin white stripe along either edge.
Bars/Clasps
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.
Dealer Retail Value */**
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Edward VII issue
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£175.00
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George V issue
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£185.00
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George VI GRI issue
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£160.00
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George VI GVIR issue
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£160.00
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Elizabeth II issue
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£185.00
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* 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.
Further Historical Context
- The Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve.
- The Royal Naval Reserve.
The Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve - At the start of the 20th century, with a period of rapid naval expansion taking place it was realised that the RNR could not supply the required number of trained men and a scheme was introduced that allowed men in civilian shore jobs (unconnected with the sea) to train on a part-time basis at special shore establishments, and provided the valuable experience of real time with the fleet for a few weeks a year once a certain level of competence had been achieved.
This was the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR), known as the 'Wavy Navy' on account of the rank stripes (rings) on officers sleeves being wavy rather than straight.
The RNVR was organised in 'Divisions' whose names were taken from the place where the main centre was situated. London, Edinburgh and most large seaports had such divisions. Each division was commanded by a Captain.
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 Royal Naval Reserve - The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is the volunteer reserve force of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom.
The present RNR was formed in 1958 by merging the original Royal Naval Reserve and the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR), created 1903. The RNR was active in both the First and Second World Wars and was re-activated in 2003 for the Second Gulf War (Iraq War).
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.