The Accumulated Campaign Service Medal was established on January 1994 and awarded to Army, Royal Navy, Royal Air Forces and Royal Marines personnel to recognise continued campaign service.

The original Accumulated Campaign Service Medal was awarded to holders of the General Service Medal (1962) who had completed 36 months of accumulated campaign service by 1st January 2008. The replacement Accumulated Campaign Service Medal 2011 is currently awarded to holders of various campaign service medals who have completed 720 days of campaign service either on or after 1st January 2008. (e.g. for operations in Northern Ireland or air operations in Iraq), an Operational Service Medal for Afghanistan, an Operational Service Medal for Sierra Leone or an Iraq Medal.

Description:

Materials: The majority of the British medals and clasps are made of solid silver, though some were issue in bronze versions, mainly to Indian non-combatants. The majority of the British campaign awards are circular, usually 36mm in diameter.

Ribbons: Medals are worn suspended from their own specific ribbons. These were first made of silk but cotton was increasingly used as the nineteenth century developed. Their own colours often have a symbolic significance: the equal stripes of the ‘1939 to 1945 Star,’ for example, are dark blue to represent the service of the Royal and Merchant Navies, red, to represent that of the Armies and light blue to represent that of Air Forces.

Ribbon width can vary slightly though it is generally 32mm wide.

Ribbon – Central stripe of purple with 2 vertical stripes of gold flanked on either side by a stripe of green. The medal ribbon is the purple and green ribbon of the General Service Medal (1962) with an added central gold stripe denoting excellence. The Accumulated Campaign Service Medal 2011 uses the same medal, but with a ribbon with two central gold stripes

Accumulated Campaign Service Medal ribbon

Accumulated Campaign Service Medal ribbon 2011

Suspender - Ornate

Type – Campaign Service Medal

Eligibility – British and Commonwealth force

Awarded for – 1080 days of campaign service before 1 Jan 2008 for the Accumulated Campaign Service Medal; 720 days of campaign service for the Accumulated Campaign Service Medal 2011

Established – January 1994 and amended 1st July 2011

Clasp / Bars – Further periods of 36 months accumulated campaign service are denoted by a clasp, indicated as a silver rosette when the ribbon alone is worn. A gilt rosette is worn on the ribbon alone to denote the award of four silver clasps. A further three gilt rosette was awarded for a further three silver clasps and a third gilt rosette was awarded for another two silver clasps.

Description – Silver medal 36mm diameter. The obverse show the crowned effigy of Queen Elizabeth, while the medal reverse has the inscription ‘FOR ACCUMULATED CAMPAIGN SERVICE’ within a four part ribbon surrounded by a branch of oak leaves with laurel and olive leave woven through the motto ribbon.

Clasps are usually referred to as ‘bars’. They are single-faced metal bars carried on a ribbon attached to the medal, indicating the recipient’s service in a particular campaign or battle. The clasps carry side flanges to enable them to be attached to the medal and riveted to each other, so that new ones can be attached as earned. Usually the first earned Clasp is closest to the medal, so that the latest earned should be at the top, although they can be found in the wrong order.

This guide will help you through all the parts and descriptions of military medals

Sources:

Bigbury Mint

< gov.uk/medals-campaigns-descriptions-and-eligibility>

Some of the material on this page was also partially derived from

<en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Accumulated_Campaign_Service_Medal>

Which are released under the terms of

Creativecommons.org/licenses/by-s/3.0/.