HIDDEN SECRETS OF REPLACEMENT MEDALS

By John Wright

Many collectors may be unimpressed when they here of replacement medals being issued. However, after an interesting research project on the group to Lt Col F.D. Field, OBE, MC, (Royal Artillery), I decided to find out more on the subject.

In June 1986 I was fortunate to be offered a post here in Hong Kong and lucky to unearth the following information from a file held here in one of the Government Records Offices. The file was dated August 14, 1946 and it is from the Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Mark Young, addressed to: "The Secretary of State for the Colonies." The heading is "Replacement of Decorations and Medals lost during the Japanese occupation." It seems that there was a letter from the Hong Kong Government published in the South China Morning Post newspaper in 1945 or 1946 telling people who had lost their medals during the Japanese occupation to apply to the government for replacements. These applicants were then put into two groups. Group One - free replacements; Group Two - Not considered for free replacements.

Group One: A, government officers for whom a uniform is prescribed or who may require their medals for official functions; B, members of the police force; C, members of the volunteer forces.

Group Two: Any person who does not fall into the above category, including persons who have retired from government service, the police force etc, since the end of the occupation.

The following table lists those who qualified for Group One. You will see, unfortunately that there are no regiments/units shown by the claimants name, so I am unable to show with which the chap served in the First World War. However, you can work out from the column on the right hand side what category he claimed under and from this you can deduce where he was employed in 1946.

Abbreviations:

• ASP, Assistant Superintendent of Police;
• PSC, Police Sergeant Chinese;
• PSW, Police Sergeant Water;
• LSC, Lance Sergeant Chinese;
• PCC, Police Constable Chinese (Cantonese);
• PCD, Police Constable Chinese (Northern);
• A/DCI/K, Acting Detective Chief Inspector, Kowloon;
• Cl, Chief Inspector.

These abbreviations were used in the Hong Kong police force before the Second World War and from the letter used after a man's rank you were able to tell where the person was from: PSA, would be a European sergeant, denoted by the letter A; PSB, Indian sergeant - B; PSC, Chinese sergeant - C (also denoting that he was a Cantonese speaker; PSD, Chinese sergeant -D(northern Chinese); PSE, White Russian sergeant - E.

The Hong Kong Police Medal, the fore-runner of the King's/Queen’s Police Medal for Gallantry, was issued only in Hong Kong and consisted of four classes. The first class was gold, the second class silver, and the third and fourth classes bronze. The medal was superceded in 1937/38 by the King’s Police Medal but prior to this all four classes combined and the second class silver medal, with a yellow ribbon, was used.

These medals are seen with the heads of Queen Victoria, King Edward VII, King George V (two types, WW1 and crowned head as per IGS 1935), King George VI. They were suspended from the following ribbons: First class, (gold) dark red ribbon; second class (silver), yellow ribbon; third class (bronze), yellow ribbon with one central black stripe; fourth class (bronze) yellow ribbon with two black stripes - yellow, black, yellow, black yellow.

I hope after reading this medal collectors might look a little more closely at medals marked as "replacement" because, as I have found on many occasions, there is often a good story behind their issue.

Free Replacement of Decorations Etc

Sir Mark Young

Order of St John of Jerusalem, Badge and Star of Knight of the Garter, 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal, GV Jubilee Medal, GVI Coronation Medal. (These were lost in baggage transferred from POW camp in Manchuria to Okinawa, August 1945. Badge and Star KCMG were also lost, but application was not made for replacement since they were due for return to the Chancery on receipt of the insignia of GCMG in January 1946.

With reference to the last claim, in a letter dated June 18, 1956, it is stated: "It is not possible to supply Fender with a replacement of the Hong Kong Police Medal Fourth Class, as the version of the medal which was awarded to him is now unobtainable. Enquiries have been made, however, with a view to providing him with a length of the appropriate ribbon, but, as this can only be supplied in a minimum length of two yards at a cost of two pounds, I should be glad to learn whether you would be prepared to authorise its purchase." In another letter, dated June 27, 1956, the short answer was NO. I wonder if Mr Fender did, in fact, receive anything.