History The medal was authorised in 1919 to commemorate the victory of the Allies over the Central Powers. Description The medal is laquered bronze and bears on the obverse the classical figure of Athene Nike, the goddess of Victory. On the reverse is an inscription, THE GREAT WAR FOR CIVILISATION. The version of the Victory Medal issued to members of the South African forces is identical, except that the obverse inscription is in both English and Afrikaans. The silk ribbon is red in the centre, with green and violet on either side shaded to form the colours of two rainbows. The medal is suspended from a plain ring. Anybody who received a Mention in Despatches was authorised to wear, sewn on to the ribbon, a single emblem of oak leaves in bronze. When the ribbon alone was worn, a smaller version of the emblem was fixed to it. The medal, designed by W McMillan, was authorised to obviate the exchange of Allied Commemorative War Medals. It was struck by the Royal Mint.

Obverse Reverse

Eligibility
ROYAL NAVY
The medal was awarded to the following personnel who were mobilised and rendered approved service either:
(i) at sea between midnight 4/5 August 1914, and midnight 11/12 November 1918, or
(ii) on the establishment of a unit within a theatre of operations:

• All officers and men of the RN, RM (RMLI and RMA), RNAS, RIM, RNR, RNVR, Royal Naval Auxiliary Sick Berth Reserve, and Dominion and Colonial Naval Forces. Trained pilots and observers and men of the RNAS employed in actual flying from Naval Air Stations at home on overseas patrols, were eligible. The next-of-kin of those killed on active service received the medal whether or not the casualty completed the requisite period of service.
• Mercantile Marine Officers and men serving under special Naval engagements in HM Ships of War and Commissioned Fleet Auxiliaries.
• Members of Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service, and Royal Naval Nursing Services Reserves.
• Officers and enrolled members of the WRNS.
• Canteen staffs who served in ships of war at sea.

The following services did not qualify:

• Service in depot ships, except those which went to sea; boom defence vessels, examination vessels and other craft employed on harbour service.
• Service at shore bases and depots, except those within theatres of active operations.
• Services of a temporary and special nature at sea, or in theatres of operations, eg casual inspections and inquiries, purchase of material, trials, passages, etc.
• Service at sea, subsequent to midnight on 11/12 November 1918 except in certain specified cases.

THE ARMY
For the Army the Victory Medal was granted to all officers, warrant officers, NCO's and men of the British, Dominion, Colonial and Indian Forces, members of women's formations who had been enrolled under a direct contract of service with His Majesty's Imperial Forces, civil medical practitioners, nursing sisters, nurses and other employed with military hospitals who actually served on the establishment of a unit in a theatre of war and within certain specified periods.

ROYAL AIR FORCE
The medal was granted to all officers and airmen who had either:

• Been posted and served with a unit in any theatre of war outside the British Isles, within certain periods.
• Served with an operational unit in the British Isles or overseas and had been actively engaged in the air against the enemy. This included service in airships, aeroplanes, seaplanes, kite balloons employed on fleet or coastal reconnaissance, convoy or anti-submarine work, or the protection of the British Isles against air-raids.
• Been employed on flying new aircraft to France.
• Served as part of the complement of aircraft-carrying ships.

The claims of officers, airmen and women who became eligible an account of services rendered with the RN or Army, excluding the RNAS and RFC, prior to transfer to the RAF, were dealt with under the regulations of the RN or Army respectively.

All those who received the Victory Medal 1914-19 received the British War Medal 1914-20; recipients of the 1914 Star (or the 1914-15 Star) received both the Victory Medal and the War Medal. However, those who received the War Medal were not automatically entitled to the Victory Medal.

The total number of medals awarded is as follows:

• Victory Medal 1914-19 5,725,000

Further Information
The Imperial War Museum does not hold the Medal Rolls for the First World War or the personal Service Records of members of HM Forces. For the availability of this material, you are advised to consult the information contained on the Public Record Office website.

See also the Family History Research at the Imperial War Museum.