Decoration For Officers Of The R.N.V.R.

 

The Decoration for Officers of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve was instituted in 1908. The medal sometimes (even officially) referred to as either the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Officers' and Decoration or the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Decoration, was awarded to part-time Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve officers who had completed a minimum of 20 years’ of commissioned service, not necessarily continuous, as an ‘…efficient and thoroughly capable officer’.

 

Wartime service counted as double, while half of the time served as a rating or in the ranks towards qualifying service for the decoration. In all cases, a minimum of seven years had to have been served in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve in any capacity before becoming eligible for the award of the decoration.

 

An officer who had previously been awarded the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Long Service and Good Conduct Medal for service as a rating, could subsequently be awarded the decoration and still wear the medal, provided both periods of qualifying service had been completed.

 

Officers serving on the active list on or after June 1954 became eligible for the award of a bar to the decoration to recognise a further period of 10 years additional qualifying service, provided that no service could under any circumstances count double for the assessment of the additional 10 years.

 

The decoration could also be awarded to part-time commissioned officers in the Naval Volunteer Reserves of Colonial Auxiliary Forces throughout the British Empire.

 

It was one of a pair of decorations that were instituted simultaneously, the other being the Decoration for Officers of the Royal Naval Reserve, often referred to as either the Royal Naval Reserve Officers' Decoration or the Royal Naval 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 in 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 established.

 

Until 1947, recipients were entitled to use the post-nominal letters ‘VD’, the same as those for the Volunteer Officers' Decoration and the Colonial Auxiliary Forces Officers' Decoration.

 

After that date the post-nominal letters were changed to ‘VRD’.

 

In January 1946, Canada discontinued to issue the award of the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve Officers’ Decoration, upon the amalgamation of the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve and the Royal Canadian Navy Reserve. The decoration was superseded by the The Royal Canadian Navy (Reserve) Decoration.

 

In South Africa, the Decoration for Officers of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve was superseded in April 1952 by the John Chard Decoration, which could be awarded to all ranks of the Citizen Force and all Arms of the Service for 20 years of efficient service and good conduct.

 

In the United Kingdom, the decoration and its equivalent award for part-time volunteer Naval ratings, the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Long Service and Good Conduct Medal, 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). At that point the decoration was superseded by its identical sister decoration, the Decoration for Officers of the Royal Naval Reserve.

 

The New Zealand version, the Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Reserve Decoration, is still being awarded.

 

 

The medal is oval, 33mm wide and 54mm in height and was struck in silver, although some parts are silver-gilt.

 

The obverse has the royal 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 silver-gilt crown, which acts as the ribbon suspension. Five versions of the decoration have been awarded, this is summarised as follows:-

 

 

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.

 

 

Original Issue

 

 

Ribbon from 1919

 

 

The original ribbon was 38mm wide and dark green in colour. The ribbon that was introduced in 1919 is also 38mm wide, and is blue in colour with a central green stripe with narrow green stripes either side.

 

The ribbon colours are symbolic, with the blue representing the sea, the red the Royal crimson and the green the original Volunteer Officers' Decoration ribbon 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.