Older, been In Longer?
 

I turned 68 a while ago and discovered t'other day that I'm to get the QDJM as I'm a sort of reservist. It must be true, 'cause my name's on a letter!!

This set me wondering. I joined the regular RAF in 1963 and since then have been in regular or some sort of reserve or volunteer reserve, service ever since.

Apart from the Royals, Marshals of the RAF and a few others of that ilk, are there many others who can beat aged 68 and 49 years in the mob?

If I can get to my 50th year, I intend to order a zimmer frame from stores - painted air force blue of course.

Corporal Punishment

If you get to 50 years of service, how about your own Jubilee medal? :D

What a good idea LJ. However, I think anything which 'smacks' (no pun intended) of a celebration of corporal punishment would not be appreciated by the powers that be.

I must say, however, I wish I could do it all again but this time, knowing what I know now.

Cpl P

I will be getting mine in the coming months and if any of those miffed at not qualifying want to pm me their address it will be in the post the following morning :ok:

Cpl P

Why have you signed on Old Duffer's log in? You wouldn't have 2 seperate accounts would you..:eek::=

LJ

There was a do at Brize recently to celebrate an individual's 50 years of Service.

LJ,

Um err ah - what me Gov!

Fair cop

O-D aka Cpl P

Actually it was to celebrate his first 50 years of commissioned service in uniform - and an excellent do it was too!

His first encounter with Brize had been from AOITS South Cerney in 1961 when he and his colleagues were despatched to protect the USAF from CND protesters who'd arrived by train at Bampton station right next to the base. It had been decided that this was preferable to letting the American guards shoot them...:\

Hi Guys;

Saw out of a window somewhere in Oxfordshire a Wg Cdr with his Golden Jubilee medal on...He'll be looking forward to his new one to stop it being lonely....:D

Later;
MOG:cool:

MOG, now there's a thought. After 20 years of operations and only a QGJM to show one must ask where an individual fit in to our Expeditionary Air Force.

Sadly, I can think of quite a few serving Wing Commanders, Group Captains and Air Commodores who joined at roughly the same time as me who will feel a little less naked now they can wear the QDJM ribbon - although some of them have OBEs for building children's pay parks (I kid thee not!). By comparison, having adopted a less than mainstream career in a niche area, I almost completed my second row, albeit all 'round' medals. Not bad as a 'blunty' if I say so myself. Not that they mean anything outside of the Service...

WUH, ah, but 20-30 years down the line you will be able to wear them in a long bar unlike others that may be forced to wear vanity medals.

And I can already picture the awkward questions in years to come - not so much what did you do in the war grandad, but more along the lines of so just how did you manage to avoid all the wars grandad? Were you the LMF crew?

In 20-30 years time it will be 'Granddad, why do you smell of wee?' along with 'how much can we get for your medals on ebay?'

On the last point, I do find it so sad that families continue to sell, indeed, throw away proper medals from parents/grandparents etc. My Grandfather, who served throughout WWI had just a couple of medals and when his widow died about 40 years ago, my mad aunt grabbed them and pawned then for a couple of dollars. Never to be seen again - the medals, that is. I've tried to track them down as it would be the only tangible thing that the family had to remember Granddad (he died when my father was very young, in the 1920s). We have no photos and his rather grand discharge certificate which was restored and framed and was pride of place in my brother's study - until he died 18 months ago and his second wife decided to add it to the skip.

Although I do not collect military or medals, I have picked up 2 medals in Charity shops and tracked down the service history of the individual. No point handing them back to his descedants - they've clearly got no use for them!

In years to come, anyone who ever wore a military uniform will be in such a minority that they will never need to justify their medals or lack of!

Whenurhappy - Your post is rather contradictory. Your Grandad's medals were sold off against your wishes and you then tried to track them down to no avail.

Why then, when once you discover the history of the medals in your possession do you write off the descendants as "clearly got no use for them!"

Surely you would be overjoyed if some collector who obtained your Grandad's originals contacted you and offered their return?

Perhaps I should explain - they would have been sent to the charity shop by relatives when Granddad popped his clogs.

My father in law ran a business winding up deceased estates and he lost count of the number of times when medals were found (or similar items) and these were offered to the relatives who either showed no interest ('throw them away or see if Oxfam want them') or expected to make a fortune by selling them, based on grossly inflated Antiques Roadshow estimates. Very few seemed to want them. Sad.

I suppose in the case of the two WWI medals I picked up in Banardo's I should attempt to track down relatives. But I just can't be bothered knowing it was the next of kin who probably decided to get rid of them in the first place.

In the old cold war days you got one ribbon, the GSM, and the various punch ups you were involved in were represented by bars. After 34 years in the teeth arms I have only two ribbons, of which the only campaign medal is the GSM. Quantity of ribbon doesn't necessarily reveal the full career history. And the other one is not a jubilee gong!

... indeed - took me 31 years from first GSM to second bar (although other campaign etc medals were earned - but "only round ones!").

Funny old world - when I joined most stn cdrs seemed to have (at least) a DFC and a few campaign ribbons, if not a DSO - then came the relatively medal free cold war years when there were AOCs with nothing between their wings and their breast pocket button, if they'd managed to avoid MBE/OBE or maybe an AFC for being a display pilot.

And now - most stn cdrs seem to have (at least) a DFC and a few campaign ribbons, if not a DSO .......

plus ça change .....

Edited to add: and for O-D/Cpl P :=, does that now make you "Jubilee Medal and bar"? ;)

Oh TTH,

Fancy rediculing me so publicly :p

Actually, besides the two 'jubilees' there are a couple of others; one with 'bars' and t'other from a foreign power, who seemed grateful for my modest contribution. I've left the various Independence gongs in the cupboard, however.

I've probably posted this story before but the Pathfinder; Hamish Mahaddie went to Buck House to collect a DSO, a DFC and an AFC from the King (all awarded within a 3 month period). He already had the ribbons sewn on and these were in addition to a Czech gallantry award. This was about 1943 and before most of the campaign and war service medals had been specified. After the investiture, Mahaddie and his mates repaired to the nearest hostelry for some refreshment, when he was approached by a lady who asked him what the medals ribbons were. Mahaddie replied: "Madam, I've not the slightest idea, they were on the uniform when I bought it".

O-D