The Battle of Britain clasp to the 1939/45 Star: http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/staff/hartleyi/bobclasp.htm Worth a read. I suspect a near family member was pilot or crew of an aircraft who lived/died in the BOB.... ====================== From: John Deare Subject: Re: [SOUTH-AFRICA] Battle of Britain Maybe all troops, airmen/women who were involved in the service received it as a token of appreciation. John -----Original Message----- Subject: [SOUTH-AFRICA] Battle of Britain Dear all, Does anyone know why my South African grandmother would have received a medal for the Battle of Britain during the Second World War? As far as we know she wasn't stationed in Britain but rather in Cairo and possibly elsewhere in Africa. Can anyone shed light on this matter? Thanks! Regards, Sigrid. -------------------------------

Aha...so it was a clasp and not a medal. Big difference. Thanks Bart for the link with explanation of copies. I guess 'fakes' are a big industry. John -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Bart Simon Sent: 28 October 2013 06:45 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [SOUTH-AFRICA] Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain clasp to the 1939/45 Star: http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/staff/hartleyi/bobclasp.htm Worth a read. I suspect a near family member was pilot or crew of an aircraft who lived/died in the BOB.... ====================== From: John Deare Subject: Re: [SOUTH-AFRICA] Battle of Britain Maybe all troops, airmen/women who were involved in the service received it as a token of appreciation. John -----Original Message----- Subject: [SOUTH-AFRICA] Battle of Britain Dear all, Does anyone know why my South African grandmother would have received a medal for the Battle of Britain during the Second World War? As far as we know she wasn't stationed in Britain but rather in Cairo and possibly elsewhere in Africa. Can anyone shed light on this matter? Thanks! Regards, Sigrid. ------------------------------- ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ----- No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2014.0.4158 / Virus Database: 3615/6788 - Release Date: 10/28/13

MGC: Approx. 2936 airman took part in the BOB. The clasp was only given to pilots/crew that flew in "fighter" planes. Other airmen of different nationalities that took part were: South Africa 25; Southern Rhodesia 3; etc. A genuine [BATTLE OF BRITAIN clasp on its original 1939-1945 Star] is rare and worth a lot of money. [After the Battle it was decided that every Allied airman who took part should be entitled to the “immediate” award of the 1939-45 Star with Battle of Britain clasp. The qualification that was decided on for this award was that an airman must have made one authorised operational flight with a designated unit (of which there were 71 under the control of Fighter Command) between 10 July and 31 October 1940.]. The "medal" I assume must be the [1939-45 Star] with the [Battle of Britain clasp] ?. From this list here, at least 12 of the 25 South African pilots/crew were killed (Only 23 names on the list?), do you recognise any of the name/surnames ?: http://www.raf.mod.uk/history/BattleofBritainRollofHonour.cfm B.S. [!!!] ===================== From: John Deare Subject: RE: [SOUTH-AFRICA] Battle of Britain Aha...so it was a clasp and not a medal. Big difference. Thanks Bart for the link with explanation of copies. I guess 'fakes' are a big industry. John. -----Original Message----- Subject: Re: [SOUTH-AFRICA] Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain clasp to the 1939/45 Star: http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/staff/hartleyi/bobclasp.htm Worth a read. I suspect a near family member was pilot or crew of an aircraft who lived/died in the BOB.... ====================== From: John Deare Subject: Re: [SOUTH-AFRICA] Battle of Britain Maybe all troops, airmen/women who were involved in the service received it as a token of appreciation. John -----Original Message----- Subject: [SOUTH-AFRICA] Battle of Britain Dear all, Does anyone know why my South African grandmother would have received a medal for the Battle of Britain during the Second World War? As far as we know she wasn't stationed in Britain but rather in Cairo and possibly elsewhere in Africa. Can anyone shed light on this matter? Thanks! Regards, Sigrid. -------------------------------