King's Medal for Courage in the Cause of Freedom

King's Medal for Courage in the Cause of Freedom
The Medal in "Court Style"
Awarded by United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Type Civil decoration.
Eligibility civilians, mostly foreigners
Awarded for contributions to helping British military personnel to escape the enemy and escape from occupied areas, with the danger of life, or for other dangerous work for the British or Allied cause during the war
Campaign(s) World War II
Description Silver disk, 36mm diameter.
Statistics
Established 23 August 1945
Total awarded 3,200
Precedence
Next (lower) King's Medal for Service in the Cause of Freedom
Related Allied Subjects' Medal

The King's Medal for Courage in the Cause of Freedom is a British medal instituted on 23 August 1945 to reward those, mainly foreigners, who during the Second World War in danger of their lives had contributed to helping British military personnel to escape the enemy and escape from occupied areas or for other dangerous work for the British or Allied cause during the war.[1]

Distribution of the medal began in 1947. Around 3,200 medals were awarded.

People who in less dangerous ways had made a deserving effort to further the British and Allied cause during World War II were eligible for the award of the King's Medal for Service in the Cause of Freedom.

Description

The medal is silver and is 36 mm in diameter. Obverse shows King George VI left facing portrait. The portrait is surrounded by the inscription "GEORGIVS VI D: G: BR: omn: REX ET IMP INDIAE:" Reverse bears the inscription "THE KING'S / MEDAL FOR / Courage / IN THE CAUSE OF / FREEDOM" of five lines, where the word courage is in larger font than other words. The inscription is surrounded by a chain. The medal is suspended from a white ribbon, which has two narrow blue centre stripes and red edge stripes.[2]

Notable recipients

  • Petrus Wijtse Winkel (1909-2012), Dutch colonial administrator who rescued shipwrecked Britons and allowed them to escape the Japanese invaders by giving them his boat.
  • Lykele Faber (1919 - 2009) was a Dutch commando and radio operator during World War II. He took part in the Battle of Arnhem and helped organize the Dutch resistance.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Imperial Awards". It's an Honour. Honours, Symbols and Territories Branch Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Archived from the original on 23 June 2006. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
  2. ↑ Mussell, John W. (2009). The Medal Yearbook 2010. Token Publishing. p. 99. ISBN 978-1870192910.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.