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Efficiency Medal
Instituted 17th October 1930, this medal replaced the Territorial
Efficiency Medal, the Militia Long Service and Good Conduct Medal
and Commonwealth equivalents. Awarded for 12 years service in
British Territorial or Militia units or their Commonwealth
counterparts. Service in wartime counted double as did service in
West Africa. This medal was terminated in 2000 and replaced by the
Volunteer Reserve Service Medal.
Description : an oval silver medal 39mm
high by 32 mm wide. An ornate fixed suspension in the from of two
laurel leaves bears a scroll pattern bar with the relevant title.
Obverse; the crowned bust of the sovereign and legend. Reverse;
plain apart from the inscription " FOR EFFICIENT SERVICE "
Naming: Sans-serif capitals, lettering can be
quite uneven on some of the GVI issues.
Bars: Four main types "Territorial" , " Militia" , " T
& A V R " and the Commonwealth types. The T & A V R bar
was introduced in 1969 following the creation of the Territorial and
Army Volunteer Reserve, also at this time a new ribbon was
introduced (see below). In 1982 the "T & A V R" bar was
abandoned and the Territorial bar reintroduced, but the new ribbon
remained. Stitch on ribbon bars were also awarded for further
complete periods of qualifying service, these are found with either
a King's crown or Queen's crown as relevant to the issue period.
Ribbons ; Three types, one of which is the
special HAC type permitted to be worn by members of that regiment.
(see below)
| Ribbon Types |
| 1930 - 1969 |
Honourable Artillery Company recipients |
1969 -2000 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Green with yellow edges |
Dark blue and scarlet, with yellow edges.
(This special ribbon was bestowed on the HAC
by King Edward VII for their Volunteer and Territorial
medals and represents the King's racing colours) |
Blue and green, with yellow edges |
|
Bar type |
| Territorial |
Militia
|
Commonwealth
(see table below) |
T & A V R |
|
Period of use |
1930 - 1969
1982 - 2000 |
1930 - 1951 |
1930 - 2000 |
1969 -1982 |
|
Obverse Type
N |
GV, GVI type 1 & 2
EIIR type 1 & 2 |
GV
GVI type 1 & 2 |
various combinations |
EIIR type 2 |
| Commonwealth Bars |
| Antigua |
Australia |
Barbados |
Bermuda |
| British Guiana |
British Honduras |
Burma |
Canada |
| Ceylon |
Dominica |
Falkland Islands |
Fiji |
| Gibraltar |
Gold Coast |
Grenada |
Guernsey |
| Hong Kong |
India |
Jamaica |
Jersey |
| Kenya |
Leeward Island |
Malaya |
Malta |
| Mauritius |
Montserrat |
New Zealand |
Nigeria |
| Rhodesia / Nyasaland |
St Christopher Nevis |
St Lucia |
St Vincent |
| S. Rhodesia |
Trinidad / Tobago |
|
|
| |
| These Commonwealth bars range
from common to exceptionally scarce, and individual types
often only encountered with a limited range (sometimes
only one) obverse type. |
Notes.
1) The " Efficiency Medal " should not be confused with its
predecessors; the "Territorial Efficiency Medal " (1921 - 1930) and
the " Territorial Force Efficiency Medal " (1908 - 1921)
2) Two similar medals also exist: the "
Efficiency Medal (Army Emergency Reserve)" (1953 - 1967) as above but with a scroll bar "Army
Emergency Reserve", and a South African (bilingual reverse) version
(1939 - 1952) of the Efficiency Medal which also has a bilingual
scroll bar "Union of South Africa". these medals will hopefully be
illustrated here, or on their own page in time.
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Obverse Types
