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Post by Luther Moore on Aug 20, 2011 6:36:59 GMT 12
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Post by Luther Moore on Aug 20, 2011 6:40:44 GMT 12
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Post by flyjoe180 on Aug 20, 2011 10:43:24 GMT 12
You have a lot of memorabilia there Luther, I enjoy your scans and family wartime history. Very interesting.
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Post by Luther Moore on Aug 20, 2011 19:27:47 GMT 12
Thanks, I thought rather than a thread of photos why not start one of interesting memorabilia people might have.
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Post by shorty on Aug 20, 2011 19:46:31 GMT 12
You are probably aware of this but that red white blue ribbon belongs to the medal immediately above it. The other ribbons are WW 1 service medals. The other medal should have a black and white ribbon. The ribbons are available on Trademe quite cheaply (about $3-$5)
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Post by Luther Moore on Aug 20, 2011 19:58:13 GMT 12
Thanks, I Didn't know that. The medals my dad gave me were mixed up with two of My great Grandfathers WWI medals, so I picked out the ones I thought to be WWII.
Also should there also be a star medal for Pacific?
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Post by shorty on Aug 20, 2011 20:45:39 GMT 12
Yes, there is a Pacific Star, has a ribbon of green, gold,red, light blue, navy blue.
All the colours on Campaign medals have a significance to them, For instance the colours on the Pacific star are the green for the jungle, central yellow represents the island beaches, the red for the army, light blue for the air force and dark blue for the navy.The red is wider than the blues because the army had a wider bigger role than the air force and navy.
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Post by Luther Moore on Aug 20, 2011 21:11:27 GMT 12
That's very interesting shorty, I see the ribbon I have is very similar to what you're talking about.
I have always wondered but never got around to checking what the colours on the ribbons mean.
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Post by shorty on Aug 20, 2011 21:26:14 GMT 12
There are also certain combinations that were not awarded, for instance you could not be awarded the Pacific AND the Burma Star. You were awarded the star for which ever theatre you served longest in and a clasp for the other, so if you served in both you could have, for example, the Pacific Star with the clasp"Burma"
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Post by Dave Homewood on Aug 20, 2011 21:36:23 GMT 12
"red is wider than the blues because the army had a wider bigger role than the air force and navy."
Who came up with that theory? The Army was mainly sat at places like Fiji, Tonga and New Caledonia in garrison duties, whilst the Air Force and the Navy were constantly up the front lines, and the RNZAF in particular were dealing to the Japanese on a daily basis from 1941-45. The Army did a couple of small landings on nearly empty islands with next to no resistance. So who reckons the Army had such a more sugnificant role??
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Post by shorty on Aug 20, 2011 21:50:28 GMT 12
I knew that would get a response from you Dave, what you are forgetting is that these are not New Zealand medals but British ones. The only NZ medal was the New Zealand Defence medal with a black ribbon outline in white.
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Post by shorty on Aug 20, 2011 22:31:51 GMT 12
They couldn't make tham at the start of the war as they wouldn't know where the fighting was to take place!
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Post by Dave Homewood on Aug 20, 2011 22:42:59 GMT 12
Shorty, what did the British Army and the RAF do in the Pacific war, apart from lose Singapore and Malaya?
Why did NZ not adapt the ribbons to reflect NZ service?
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Post by shorty on Aug 20, 2011 22:58:54 GMT 12
Shorty, what did the British Army and the RAF do in the Pacific war, apart from lose Singapore and Malaya? Why did NZ not adapt the ribbons to reflect NZ service? The first question is one you need to ask of the British Ministry of Defence. I'm just stating what the document that came with the medals said. As to your second question I think the one word answer would be cost. The medals were not even engraved with the recipients name. |
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Post by shorty on Aug 20, 2011 23:18:30 GMT 12
Here is something else that members of the same age as me (or older) would have had. Luckily my Mum kept mine for me as I guess there aren't many of them still around. Mine still has ration coupons in it for butter,sugar, eggs, meat and 'special" coupons ( which are "Not to be used until instructed")   |
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Post by Luther Moore on Aug 21, 2011 1:42:54 GMT 12
Shorty,Whats the story behind this?
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Post by shorty on Aug 21, 2011 7:46:30 GMT 12
No story, just that rationing was in force in New Zealand for some years after the war.NZs produce was being shipped to the UK and Europe to help them recover .
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Post by Luther Moore on Aug 21, 2011 9:58:24 GMT 12
Interesting, I'm going to have a look through all my Grandmas stuff, she has a lot of old stuff like that, bags and bags full, I might come across something like that.
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Post by John L on Aug 22, 2011 14:16:27 GMT 12
The Army was mainly sat at places like Fiji, Tonga and New Caledonia in garrison duties, .. Them's fighting words.....the old man would've had you on about that....he was on Guadalcanal, Bougainville, Malaita, Choiseul and elsewhere (these are names that ring bells) - at one stage refueling PT boats at night in hidden forward bases ("punishment" for decking a stroppy 2nd Lieutenant) and ended the war with a broken neck whilst blowing Japs out of caves with explosive charges....They weren't all on garrison duties, by any means..... |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Aug 22, 2011 14:58:59 GMT 12
True they were not all on garrison duty but the majority were. When parts of the Third Division moved to Gauadalcanal it was well after the major fighting and that two was garrison duty for the most part, from what I have read. Bougainville was certainly a hot spot, and the RNZAF were right on the front lines there too, with snipers firing into their tents, etc. I think it's an imbalance to think the Army was the majority in the pacific war, they were not. And for the British Army to get that credit in the ribbon is pretty surprising indeed.
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