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Empire Gallantry Medal
British medal (1922-1940)
British medal (1922-1940)
| Field | Value | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| name | Medal of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for Gallantry | ||
| image | [[File:Empire Gallantry Medal, obverse.png | 124px]][[File:Empire Gallantry Medal, George VI reverse.png | 127px]] |
| caption | Empire Gallantry Medal (George VI reverse) | ||
| presenter | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | ||
| type | Bravery decoration | ||
| eligibility | British and Commonwealth subjects | ||
| status | Ceased by Royal Warrant on 24 September 1940 | ||
| description | Circular silver medal | ||
| established | 29 December 1922 | ||
| firstawarded | 1 January 1923 | ||
| total_awarded | 130 | ||
| total_awarded_posthumously | 8 | ||
| precedence_label | 1936 Order of Wear | ||
| higher | Kings' Police Medal | ||
| lower | Indian Police Medal | ||
| image2 | [[File:Empire Gallantry Medal, civil ribbon 1922-37, with silver laurel branch.png | x32px]] [[File:Empire Gallantry Medal, military ribbon 1922-37, with silver laurel branch.png | x32px]] |
| Ribbon bar: Civil and Military EGM (to 1937). Silver laurel branch added 1933 | |||
| [[File:Empire Gallantry Medal, civil ribbon 1937-40, with silver laurel branch.png | x32px]] [[File:Empire Gallantry Medal, military ribbon 1937-40, with silver laurel branch.png | 115px]] | |
| Ribbon bar: Civil and Military EGM (1937–40). |
Ribbon bar: Civil and Military EGM (to 1937). Silver laurel branch added 1933 Ribbon bar: Civil and Military EGM (1937–40). The Medal of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for Gallantry, known as the Empire Gallantry Medal (EGM), was a British medal awarded for acts of gallantry. Unlike the then existing Sea Gallantry Medal (SGM) (1854), the Albert Medal (AM) (1866) and the Edward Medal (EM) (1907) which each had two classes with restricted eligibility criteria, the EGM was a single class award with wide eligibility. It was instituted by King George V on 29 December 1922. In July 1937, recipients were granted the right to use the post-nominal letters "EGM". The EGM was superseded in 1940 by the George Cross which was also a single class award with wide eligibility but unlike the low placed EGM on the Order of Wear, the George Cross was listed immediately after the Victoria Cross.
The EGM was a medal of the Order of the British Empire and like the Order itself, was divided into civil and military divisions, but unlike the British Empire Medal (BEM), officers were eligible for the medal.
History
In 1922, the original Medal of the Order of the British Empire was discontinued and replaced by two separate awards, the Medal of the Order of the British Empire for Gallantry (EGM), and the Medal of the Order of the British Empire for Meritorious Service, known as the British Empire Medal. The EGM had been ranked after the SGM, AM and EM on the Order of Wear but was superseded by the George Cross in 1940.
On 24 September 1940 King George VI created the George Cross, to rank immediately after the Victoria Cross, to recognize gallantry not in the presence of the enemy. The EGM ceased the same day. In April 1941, it was announced that, except for honorary recipients, all living recipients and the next-of-kin of those posthumously awarded the EGM after 3 September 1939, were to exchange their insignia for the George Cross. In 1971, all living recipients of the Albert Medal and Edward Medal were deemed George Cross holders but unlike EGM recipients the exchange of their original insignia for the George Cross was optional.
Appearance
It is a circular silver medal, 36 mm in diameter, with a straight suspender augmented with laurel leaves. The recipient's name was impressed on the rim. Except for the ribbon, the design of the civil and military divisions was the same.
The obverse showed Britannia facing right, her left and resting on a shield and right hand holding a trident, with a sun in the upper right corner. The wording "For God and the Empire" was inscribed round the upper side, and "For Gallantry" in the exergue.
The first reverse had the Royal Cypher surrounded by six lions. The 2nd type, adopted after the accession of George VI in 1937, had the Royal Cypher with four lions, two on either side with, below, the wording "Instituted by George V".
The original ribbon was plain purple, with the addition of a thin vertical red stripe for military awards. A silver laurel branch was added diagonally to the ribbon for both types of the award in 1933, and was worn on the ribbon bar when ribbons alone were worn. The ribbon changed to rose pink with pearl grey edges in July 1937, with an addition pearl grey vertical stripe for military awards, and stayed in this version until the medal's revocation.
Statistics
There were a total of 130 awards, including eight made posthumously:
- Civil Division 64 (3 posthumous)
- Military Division 62 (5 posthumous)
- Honorary awards 4 (non-British citizens, 3 French and 1 Belgian)
The four honorary awards were not able to be exchanged for the George Cross. On 24 September 1940, 107 of the other 126 recipients were living and all exchanged awards. The next of kin of five deceased recipients, Herbert John (Bertie) Mahoney whose EGM award was gazetted on 23 December 1927 and the four Military Division posthumous awards gazetted after the start of World War II also exchanged awards.
Selected recipients
Awards of the EGM that were not exchanged for the George Cross are marked below with ().*
| Name | Rank (or Role) | Organisation | Date gazetted | Image | (*) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flying Officer | Royal Air Force | date=12 April 1929 | issue=33485 | page=2433}} | ||||
| Leading Aircraftman | Royal Air Force | 9 November 1928 | ||||||
| Coxswain | Cromer Lifeboat | date=4 July 1924 | issue=32953 | page=5157}} | [[File:Henry Blogg 1 Feb 2008 (1).JPG | 100px]] | ||
| Mulazim (Lieutenant) | Trans-Jordan Frontier Force | 30 June 1939 | ||||||
| Pilot Officer | Royal Air Force (Auxiliary Air Force) | 30 June 1939 | ||||||
| Coxswain | Gorleston Lifeboat | 30 June 1924 | [[File:William Flemming.jpg | 100px]] | ||||
| Landlord, Property Owner and Sand Contractor | 4 June 1934 | [[File:Abdul Samad Golandaz, detail.jpg | 100px]] | |||||
| Sub Lieutenant | Royal Navy | 14 March 1940 | ||||||
| Commander | Royal Navy | 23 December 1939 | ||||||
| Barge pilot | 5 February 1937 | |||||||
| Lance Sergeant | British Army | 19 November 1935 | ||||||
| Chauffeur | 5 December 1924 | [[File:Frederick Hamilton March AWM P03444.001.jpg | 100px]] | |||||
| Flight Cadet | Royal Air Force | 18 October 1929 | ||||||
| Corporal | Royal Air Force | 12 April 1929 | ||||||
| Corporal | Women's Auxiliary Air Force | 19 July 1940 | [[File:Daphne Pearson GC.jpg | 100px]] | ||||
| Captain | Aus-NZ Airmail Flight | 9 July 1937 | [[File:Patrick Taylor.jpg | 100px]] | ||||
| Nurse | Middlesex Hospital | 2 March 1934 | ||||||
| Radio Officer | Merchant Navy | 13 October 1939 |
References
References
- {{londongazette. (24 April 1936)
- The 1922 Royal Warrant, section 38 excludes those eligible for the order itself from the medal for meritorious service, but not from the medal for gallantry. See: {{londongazette. (29 December 1922)
- H. Taprell Dorling. (1956). "Ribbons and Medals". A. H. Baldwin & Son, London.
- (1981). "British Gallantry Awards". Nimrod Dix & Co.
- (2014). "Medal Yearbook 2015". Token Publishing Limited, Honiton, Devon.
- Imperial War Museum. "Empire Gallantry Medal (Medal of the Order of the British Empire for Gallantry) (Military Division) & EGM [OMD 14]". IWM Collections Search.
- Hebblethwaite, Marion. (2006). "One step further : those whose gallantry was rewarded with the George Cross". Chameleon HH Publishing Ltd.
- {{londongazette. (12 April 1929)
- {{londongazette. (9 November 1928)
- {{londongazette. (4 July 1924)
- {{londongazette. (30 June 1939)
- {{londongazette. (25 March 1938)
- {{londongazette. (4 June 1934)
- {{londongazette. (2 August 1940)
- {{londongazette. (22 December 1939)
- {{londongazette. (5 February 1937)
- {{londongazette. (19 November 1935)
- {{londongazette. (5 December 1924)
- {{londongazette. (18 October 1929)
- {{londongazette. (19 July 1940)
- {{londongazette. (9 July 1937)
- {{London Gazette. (2 March 1934)
- {{londongazette. (13 October 1939)
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