General Service Medal (1962)

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General Service Medal (1962)
Obverse (top left) and reverse (top right) of the medal. Ribbon: 32mm, purple edged with green.
Awarded by United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Type	Campaign medal
Eligibility	British forces.
Awarded for	Campaign service.
Campaign	Minor campaigns 1962-.
Description	Silver disk, 36mm diameter.
Clasps	Borneo Radfan South Arabia Malay Peninsula South Vietnam Northern Ireland Dhofar Lebanon Mine Clearance Gulf Kuwait N. Iraq & S. Turkey Air Operations Iraq
Statistics
Established	1962

The 1962 General Service Medal was introduced to combine the army/RAF GSM and the naval general service medal (NGSM). The GSM is now being replaced by the Operational Service Medal (OSM) and the GSM is only currently awarded for Northern Ireland and will be discontinued with the withdrawl of UK forces from Northern Ireland.

The GSM 1962 onward cannot be issued without a clasp.

Silver and circular in shape.

Obverse shows the crowned effigy of Queen Elizabeth II

Reverse bears the image of an oak wreath surrounding the words ‘For Campaign Service’.

[edit] Clasps

13 Clasps have been awarded on the GSM since 1962, with the only one in use being "Northern Ireland"

• Borneo

Awarded to soldiers (including Commonwealth) that served under Major General Walker fighting indonesian insurgents in Malysia

Major General Walker eventually established a British and Commonwealth force, which came to dominate the border area and eventually defeated the persistent incursions into the area. This conflict claimed the lives of 114 Commonwealth personnel killed, with 180 wounded.

• Radfan

Awarded to soldiers that fought the campaign mounted by British personnel, with Federation troops, against the Egyptian/Yemeni backed Radfan tribesmen. They were quickly and effectively defeated.

• South Arabia

This campaign is related to the Radfan Campaign, because both were attempts by Egyptian-inspired attempts to end the British presence in Aden and end the embryonic Federation of Saudi Arabia.

This 3 year long campaign saw numerous terrorist attacks on both civilian and military targets. In both Rafan and Aden, the British Army suffered 90 personnel killed and 510 wounded.

The qualifying period was 30 days service in the Federation of South Arabia between 1 August 1964 and 30 November 1967.

• Malay Peninsula

This campaign was an extension of the conflict in Borneo where British and Malaysian troops were operating against Indonesian insurgents. In 1964, the Indonesian President decided to attack the Malaysian mainland. Parachute landings were made in Johore while other troops managed to land across the Malacca Straits from Indonesian Sumatra.

It was for operations in the Malaysian jungle against these troops that this clasps was instituted, as opposed to the concurrent Borneo operations.

The qualifying period was 30 days' service in the Malaysian Peninsula-Singapore area between 17 August 1964 and 11 August 1966.

• South Vietnam

This clasp was instituted by Royal Warrant dated 8 June 1968 for award to Australian personnel. Only 68 clasps were issued, and all 68 went to members of the Australian Army Training Team.

The various qualifying periods, between 24 December 1962 and 29 May 1964, were

• 30 days' service in ships operating in inland waters or off the Vietnamese coast.
• 1 day in the service of a land unit.
• 1 operational sortie.
• 30 days' service on an official visit.

For service after 29 May 1964, the personnel were awarded The Vietnam Medal.

• Northern Ireland

This clasp was instituted for award to personnel involved in law and order activities in Northern Ireland. This clasp is still being issued. There is currently no terminating date for qualifying service.

The general qualifying period is a minimum of 30 days' service between 14 August 1969 and some future date. The 30 days' service does not have to be composed of consecutive days. Should the qualifying period be cut short due to injury or death, then the completed days are counted as sufficient for the award of this clasp.

• Dhofar

In 1965 the mountain tribesmen of Dhofar (now Oman) rose in revolt against the regime of Sultan Sa'ib bin Taimur. The revolt worsened in 1967 when the British left the adjacent State of Aden. The new communist government in Yemen provided an important base for the rebels.

By 1970 it was clear that the Sultan would lose the war unless some action was taken. On 23 July 1970, the Sultan's son staged a coup which provided the required change of direction. Some of the previous Sultan's excesses were removed, and the new leader expanded his armed forces and requested British assistance.

The British Special Air Forces (SAS) provided training for his local forces, the Royal Engineers provided military and civil engineering, and RAF officers provided the backbone of the new Sultan's air force. In addition to these contribution, many British officers were seconded to the Sultan's Armed Forces (SAF). As well as the British contribution, Jordan and Iran also provided assistance.

During this period, the British forces suffered 24 killed and 55 wounded.

The qualifying period for service was between 1 October 1969 and 30 September 1976.

• Lebanon

In 1982, in attempt to remove PLO bases which were attacking Israel, Israel invaded Lebanon and struck north towards Lebanon's capital Beirut. However, they quickly became embroiled in the local Lebanese politics.

In October 1982, an US-inspired multinational peacekeeping force was sent into Beirut. It was composed of troops from USA, France, Italy and UK. Though all the other contingents suffered casualties (241 US Marines in one attack and 58 French troops in another suicide attack), the British troops carried out their assignments with no loss of life.

However, as the force was increasingly becoming just a target for the various factions, it was withdrawn during February - March 1984.

• Mine Clearance

For service in the Gulf of Suez between 15 August and 15 October 1984.

• Gulf

For service between 17 November 1986 and 31 October 1988, and mine countermeasures in the Gulf up to 28 February 1989.

• Kuwait

For service in Kuwait between 8 March and 30 September 1991.

• N. Iraq & S. Turkey

For service in Northern Iraq or Southern Turkey between 6 April and 17 July 1991.

• Air Operations Iraq

Awarded to RAF personnel for patroling the no fly zones in Iraq between July 1991 and April 2003.

[edit] Notes

[edit] Bibliography

• Mackay, J and Mussel, J (eds) - Medals Yearbook - 2006, (2005), Token Publishing.
• Joslin, Litherland, and Simpkin (eds), British Battles and Medals, (1988), Spink