WITH Bathurst’s Remembrance Weekend coming up on November 10 and 11, Bathurstians are in for a memorable time.
Besides the special remembrance service on Sunday, there will be an impressive exhibition in the Walshaw Hall in Church Street consisting of hundreds of World War One images and memorabilia from the Great War a century and longer ago.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
There will also be band music in Machattie Park on Saturday.
There would be several homes in Bathurst which would have one of these star-shaped campaign medals from World War One, which were given for active service early on in the war.
Our photo this week is the 1914-1915 Star as we remember 1918, the end year of the Great War.
There were two types of Great War Stars, which are not to be confused with the star-shaped campaign medal issues of World War Two. The first star that was issued is known as the 1914 Star.
Approved in April 1917, it was to be bestowed to those servicemen and servicewomen who operated in France or Belgium on the strength of a unit, or who served in either of those two countries during the period between August 5, 1914, when war was declared, and midnight on November 22-23, 1914, marking the end of the First Battle of Ypres.
This medal mainly went to British men who were the regular army soldiers of the British Expeditionary Force.
These men were often referred to as the “Old Contemptibles”. Australians usually had to be serving in the British Army to receive this medal.
If one received this 1914 Star, they were not to receive the 1914-1915 Star. They couldn’t get both.
The 1914 Star (or Mons Star) design consisted of a four-pointed star made from bright bronze and ensign with a crown.
The obverse, or front, had a pair of short-crossed gladius, based on an old Roman legionnaire’s sword design, which was overlaid with an oak wreath that was ensigned with the cypher of King George V.
Interlaced in the crossed blades of the gladius was an S-shaped scroll which bore the wording “AUG”, “1914” and “NOV”.
The reverse of the medal was blank except for the serviceman’s service number, rank, name and unit in block capitals, which was impressed onto the back.
The suspension ribbon had the red, white and blue colours of the Empire in shaded and watered stripes. This ribbon applied to the 1914-15 Star as well.
Some of the medals had a horizontal metal bar or clasp worn on the ribbon which was inscribed “August 5 – November 22, 1914” to differentiate those who had served under enemy fire in France and Belgium between the dates.
If the ribbon is worn alone, recipients of the clasp to the medal wear a small silver rose on the ribbon bar. No definite number is known, however, there were approximately 375,000 1914 Stars issued.
Recipients of both Star medals also received the British War Medal and Victory Medal.
The 1914-1915 campaign medal was sanctioned before the Great War had concluded in 1918 and was issued to the service personnel who served from August 5, 1914 up until December 31, 1915, who fought in places such as Gallipoli, France, New Guinea, and in East and West Africa.
The 1914-1915 Star design has the same three-pointed star shape. On the lower star is a “V”, surrounded by a larger “G” representing the monarch.
The 1914-1915 Star, made of bronze, had three points. There were two swords that had been incorporated into the medal’s design between these points.
The scroll or ribbon on the design where the swords crossed had “1914 – 15”. An oak wreath again surrounded the medal. About 2,350,000 of these medals were issued.
