Sudan Defence Force General Service Medal
| Sudan Defence Force General Service Medal | |
|---|---|
  Obverse and reverse of the medal | |
| Type | Campaign medal |
| Presented by | the Governor-General of the Sudan |
| Eligibility | Sudan Defence Force and police. |
| Campaign(s) | Small campaigns, 1933-41 |
| Established | 1933 |
| Last awarded | 1941 |
| Total recipients | Circa 9,000 |
_Medal_Ribbon_bar.png){kind=small} Ribbon bar | |
| Related | Khedive's Sudan Medal (1897) Khedive's Sudan Medal (1910) |
The Sudan Defence Force General Service Medal was a campaign medal instituted in 1933 to reward service in minor operations within the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. It was last awarded for service in 1941.
Criteria
[edit]The medal was established in November 1933 by the Governor-General of the Sudan, it superseding the Khedive's Sudan Medal (1910). It was awarded on the recommendation of the Commandant of the Sudan Defence Force (SDF)[1] to locally recruited personnel of the SDF, police and other approved Sudanese who served in minor operations classed by the Governor-General as of sufficient importance to warrant the grant of the medal.[2][3]
All qualifying operations were within the Sudan, and included the combatting of Italian forces who encroached into the Southern Sudan from Italian East Africa between June 1940 and November 1941.[2] Members of the SDF were also eligible for British World War II campaign medals.[4]
No further awards were made after 1945, with the medal becoming obsolete with Sudanese independence in 1956.
In total, about 9,000 SDF General Service Medals were issued.[2]
Appearance
[edit]The medal is silver, 36 millimetres (1.4 in) in diameter with a plain, straight bar ribbon suspender. It has the following design:[2][5]
Obverse: The seal of the Governor General of the Sudan, in Arabic script.
Reverse: A group of Sudanese soldiers, including two mounted on camels and one on horseback, with 'The Sudan' (in Arabic: السودان) below.
Naming: The medal was issued unnamed.
Ribbon: 31.7 millimetres (1.25 in) wide, with a central stripe of royal blue flanked by two yellow stripes, with a narrower black stripe at each edge.
Clasps: None were awarded.
Manufacture: Struck at the Royal Mint in London.[6]
References
[edit]- ^ In Arabic: Kaid el’Amm, or leader of the Army. Until 1954 the post was held by a British Army officer, usually a major-general.
- ^ a b c d John Mussell (ed). Medal Yearbook 2015. p. 185. Token Publishing Ltd. Honiton, Devon.
- ^ Captain H. Taprell Dorling. Ribbons and Medals. page 143. A.H.Baldwin & Sons, London. 1956.
- ^ War Medal Eligibility Rules, 64.iii (Access date 21 December 2018)
- ^ "Medal Encyclopaedia: Sudan Defence Force General Service Medal". Online Medals. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
- ^ "Sudan Defence Force medals: General Service; Distinguished Service; Officers' Decoration; Long Service Medal. MINT 20/1249". The National Archives. Retrieved 21 December 2018.