| Bill's Belgian Medals Medal of the Month November |
Medal of the Month The Volunteer Combatant's Medal 1914-1918 The Volunteer Combatant's Medal 1914-1918 was awarded to Belgian or foreign civilian volunteers for service with the Belgian armed forces during its "Hour of Peril" of World War I; they also had to have actually served with a combat unit in a danger zone for a minimum of 6 months. This bronze medal was instituted on 17th June 1930 and recipients included: * Volunteers older than 40 years who had served over 3 months; * Those over 50 who had one month's combat service; * Medical staff that had served two years in non-occupied Belgium; * Young persons who had fled occupied Belgium. The medal's obverse shows the heads of two volunteers: one in the 1830's (year of Belgium's independence) and one in the 1914 helmet. Above them is a royal crown on laurel branches. The reverse has the dates "1914-1918" in the centre and the text "VOLUNTARIIS PATRIA MEMOR" around the edge. The ribbon is plain dark blue. A variation of this medal has Volontarus and not Voluntarus and another is a smaller version of the medal - shown above - that has nothing on the reverse. The award of the Volunteer Combatant's Medal 1914-1918 could be made posthumously. Bill Simpson |
On the left is a brass plate based on the design of the Volunteer Medal 1914-18 that my wife found for me at a flea market in Brussels and on the right is another variation. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Click the link above to return to the home page |
| Last Updated 17 November 2007 |