Wearing your Father's/Grandfathers medals

[foxtrot-oscar]

My Granddad served in WW1 and was horribly injured at the battle of Arras, I am custodian of his medals and wondered if my Son (13) could wear them as a mark of respect during scouts/Air cadets church parade. In fact my 15 y o old Daughter is also in Air cadets, would it be seen as inappropriate and Waltish or as a respectful gesture to their older fore-bearers?

[Samuel]

Neither inappropriate nor 'waltish'. Wear them on the right...with pride.

[foxtrot-oscar]

Thanks, does wearing them on the right signify they were not earned by you?

[Samuel]

Sure does, but also that they are those of a close relative; father or grandfather!

[500N]

I'd let them wear them with pride


We have quite a few over here in Aus who do and apart from
showing respect to those close who served, it gets the younger
generation involved in what is becoming a distant or non existent
history for some.

And congrats to your children being in cadets, doesn't seem
to be many nowadays.

[Buster Hyman]

I dunno why, but this bugs me sometimes.

I watch the ANZAC Day parade & feel it's for the Veterans to march, not their kids/grand kids. As I say, I don't know why I disagree with it.

I'm no veteran, so I would never take the place of either of my Granddads in a parade, even though I have most of one of their medals. If a genuine veteran wants their family to march in their stead, then I certainly wouldn't object, but its something I never wanted to do. Just wouldn't feel right to stand in their shoes.

Personal opinion only...don't mind me.

[reynoldsno1]

My daughter wore her grandad's and great uncle's medals at an ANZAC parade when she was about 8 - Croix de Guerre, MBE and two DFCs among them. A number of the veterans shook her hand, and she was deeply impressed.

[baffman]

And congrats to your children being in cadets, doesn't seem
to be many nowadays.

Off topic and I don't have the numbers, but the cadet movement seems to me in good heart.

[mister hilter]

Buster,
there does seem to be some confusion over here with regards to ANZAC Day and Armistice Day . Simply (to me anyway) ANZAC Day, down under, was/is the equivalent to Armistice Day which equates to the US's Veterans' Day.

I watch the ANZAC Day parade & feel it's for the Veterans to march

I have also come to this way of thinking. ANZAC Day is for the veterans who returned.
Armistice Day is now popularly called Remembrance Day and is more a day to pay one's respects (remember) those who didn't return. Those who 'gave their yesterdays so that we could have our todays'.

I also like to think that it is non-national and non country specific: that is both allies and enemies should be remembered. Was any one life lost worth more or less that any other?

[Buster Hyman]

Indeed mister hilter, I have mistakenly linked the two, and wearing the medals on Remembrance day is an entirely different matter I suppose. Oddly enough, it doesn't concern me as much as the march...strange.

...And a fair point regarding your last paragraph.

[500N]

"that is both allies and enemies should be remembered. Was any one life lost worth more or less that any other?"

They are more and more over here in Aus, particularly the Turks.
That is partly because of the fact that ANZAC day was forge to a great extent
at Gallipoli, the respect between the two forces and that one of the big events
of ANZAC day is held on Turkish soil.

[Chugalug2]

I think that the OP was asking if it was appropriate for his son to wear his Great Grandfather's medals while wearing a cadet uniform. If that is not the case then I apologise, but otherwise isn't there an issue here that should be resolved by the cadet officer i/c? It is one thing to wear a relative's medals in civvies (I wore my Dad's today at our town's Remembrance ceremony), it is quite another to wear them if parading with a uniformed group, be they serving or cadets. If that is the case here, and again sorry if I am wrong, then it would be appropriate to check with the person in charge of that group.
All academic now, as presumably the moment has passed. Hope it went well anyway.

[Pontius Navigator]

Once went to a German Remembrance, same day as ours, at Oldenburgh, that was hugely attended by locals and allied airmen too.

[peppermint_jam]

I wore my grandmothers WWII medals with pride on the right hand side of my No 1's when I attended the service in my village yesterday. A couple of vets from that era did ask me as to their history, the Burma Star wasn't a medal commonly awarded I'm led to believe. When I told them of their owner, they too paid their respects with a nod of acknowledgement.

I had the cluster specifically mounted for this sole purpose (thanks to TTN for the steer on where to get them mounted) and I shall wear them again next year with the same pride.

[teeteringhead]

If we are talking about UK Air Cadet Organisation uniform (ATC or CCF(RAF)), then the answer is "no" - and it's a question which is often asked this time of year.

Cadets are (generally) to comply with RAF Dress Regs, which don't allow it; moreover, most cadets only have "woolly pullies" so medals not appropriate anyway.

All that said, I think it's a good idea to wear parents'/grandparents' medals (on the right, ones own go on the left) in civvies. One of these years I'll be going to a Remembrance Day not in uniform, and I look forward to wearing my late father's WW2 Defence Medal - when I eventually manage to get "his", rather than the randomly acquired one I have at the moment. (Characteristically, he refused his with the words "What's the point if everyone gets one?")

"Only" a Defence Medal as he was "only" a fireman ...... in the East End of London ........ in the Blitz ..........

[charliegolf]

"Only" a Defence Medal as he was "only" a fireman ...... in the East End of London ........ in the Blitz ..........

WRT your Dad's wartime service, that's all anyone needs to know. As in, "'Nuff said".

CG

[teeteringhead]

Thank you CG for your kind and prompt response......

...... which strangely coincided with some unexpected dust in my eyes .....

[Whenurhappy]

I had posted this elsewhere (now deleted). I'm still not sure about wearing relative's medals. For the widows or children, that's OK in my eyes, anyone else it becomes a 'shining in reflected glory' situation.

Anyway...
I attended a ceremony at a nearby CWGC Cemetary yesterday. The host nation (on the losing side) turned up in a variety of 'dressing-up box' unforms and laid a number of rather large floral tributes - in stark contrast to the much more restrained RBL rings of poppies. There was a surprising number of British (and a few Canadian and Polish) personnel there - smartly turned out in Service Dress in the pouring rain, but there were also two other groups I found a little repugnant:

• A group of WWII re-enactors - dressed in German Uniforms, greatcosts, jack-boots and coal-scuttle helmets. They formed up alongside the HN element and saluted etc alongside everybody else. Their Feldwbel had an enormous sabre, with which he saluted.
• There were a few ex-pat Brits there including one with an RAF beret. He wore the South Atlantic medal (with rosette) and the GSM (NI I think). But these medals were sullied by 2 rows of ajoining 'tin trinkets' - the 'RAF Service Medal', the diamond-shaped 'Diamond Jubilee Commemorative Medal', the 'BFG medal', along with a collection of other, lurid Christmas decorations. His blazer was also covered in lapel pins. If it had not been for all these self-awarded gongs, I would have chatted to him and, indeed, invited him to the after-match. His loss, I suppose! Perhaps he was special. There was another character (who also lay a wreath) with a similar array of tin after an MBE - on his right breast he wore three rows of medals (plus a row of miniatures) presumably of relatives. He would have put a North Korean General to shame. Why, oh why do people do this? They looked ridiculous and of all days, their behavious was a little shameful.

After the ceremony, some of the HN troops stood on the Sword of Sacrifice plinth and posed for 'jokey' photos. Mindful of local sensitivities (and that I was in uniform, with Greatcoat) I resisted from intervening and asking them to show a degree of restrained respect. It's unlikely that I will be attending next year, but even if I am still around, I would find a reason to avoid it. It wasn't remembrance; it was a day for people to dress up and prance about.

NZWP

[unclenelli]

I didn't think the grandchild can wear the grandparent's medals while the intermediary parent is still alive.

But I might be wrong.

[SilsoeSid]

There are no 'rules'.
Much like the 'which side do males or females wear their poppy' question. Lots of opinions, but nothing 'official'. What will there be next, a Facebook group outing Walt relatives FFS!!!

A shed full of medals and death pennies were thrown into bins at the end of The Great War and I imagine the same at the end of WW2 and others. What these brave people and their families went through needs to be remembered, because if we allow what has happened to them in the past to happen again, there won't be anyone left around to remember.

The main thing is that the person that the medals were awarded to is remembered and their story is not forgotten. Wether you or another family member wears their medals, you tell their story elsewhere or quietly remember them in your own way, the clue is in the Remembrance Service itself;

'We Will Remember Them'