This does not denigarate those who have served in earlier times when the war was cold and our role was to defend Western Europe - and medals weren't awarded for that.
We had a POL Storeman at Waddington in '69 - one "Flash" Thompson. Before joining the RAF he had served in the Parachute Regiment and had just the one medal.
With clasps for his service in:
Malaya, Kenya (Mau-Mau), Cyprus (EOKA), Yemen (Radfan) and Borneo (Confrontation). You couldn't see the ribbon for the clasps when he was (inevitably) on the AOC's parade. So, there
were medals for active service in the Cold War years, but just the one size fits all General Service Medal.
