Military medals

The BPMA has a large collection of nearly 200 military medals awarded to Post Office employees from the Crimean War of 1853–1856 up to the Second World War.  Many of these were awarded to members of the Post Office Rifles, the Post Office’s own volunteer corps. 

The Post Office Rifles were first formed as a permanent volunteer regiment recruiting only Post Office employees in 1868 under Colonel Du Plat Taylor.  They were named the 49th Middlesex Rifles Volunteers but this later changed to the 24th Middlesex Rifles Volunteers and the 8th Battalion, City of London Regiment. 

The Post Office Rifles saw active service in Egypt in 1882, South Africa in 1899 and played an important part in the First World War, serving in France and Flanders.  After the First World War, the battalion was amalgamated with various other battalions and so this saw the end of the Post Office Rifles as it was. 

The collection contains standard medals issued in the First and Second World Wars but also includes a rarer Victoria Cross, the highest British Decoration for gallantry. The medals tell the story of the heroic acts of individuals who worked for the Post Office during wartime.

Khedives Star, 1882, accession number: OB1997.142/22

This medal is one of the oldest in our collection.  It was awarded to Private Hayes, along with a Queen’s Egypt medal for services rendered in the Egyptian Campaign in 1882.  Private Hayes was one of the 100 men of the 24th Middlesex Rifles who volunteered for active service under Colonel Du Plat Taylor in the newly formed Army Post Office Corps. 

The BPMA also hold Private Hayes’ Queen’s Egypt medal in the collection.

Queen’s South Africa Medal, 1899 – 1902, accession number: 2000-0002

This medal was awarded to Sir Somerset French during the 2nd Boer War. 

Among other important appointments, Somerset French was:

• Postmaster General of Cape Colony in 1892
  
• Postmaster General of British Bechuanaland in 1893
  
• Manager of the Rhodesian Telegraph Service and of the African Trans-Continental Telegraph Company between 1893 and 1897.
  

French was largely responsible for the introduction of the Imperial Penny Postage Scheme. He was knighted in 1901 for his services in supervising the Military and Postal Telegraph Services in Cape Colony during the South African War.  After the South African War he became Agent-General for Cape Colony in London until 1910 and died on 11 May 1929.

This is the third version of the Queen’s South Africa medal as the first version had the dates 1899 - 1900 above Britannia's arm. This was because originally it was thought that the war would be over by 1900. When it was apparent that the war would drag on longer the dates were erased from the dies but still remained very faintly on the second version. The die was then completely re-cut for the third version.  The rim of the medal has ‘SIR S. FRENCH. K.C.M.G. G.P.O STAFF' engraved on it. 

The medal was purchased by the BPMA at auction in 2000.

Victoria Cross Medal, 1918, accession number: OB1997.211/1

The BPMA is very lucky to hold this Victoria Cross awarded to Sergeant A J Knight of the Post Office Rifles. 

Knight joined the Post Office Rifles in October 1914 but the unit did not move to France until May 1917.  He was awarded the Victoria Cross for ‘most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty during the operation against the enemy positions’ at the battle for Wurst Farm Ridge, Ypres on 20 September 1917 (reported in the London Gazette, November 1917). 

Knight charged the enemy position and captured it single-handedly, showing no regard for his personal safety.  The 2nd/ 8th Battalion, of which Knight was part, lost half of its fighting strength at this battle alone. 

Knight was decorated with the Victoria Cross at Buckingham Palace on January 3rd 1918 and was the only Post Office Rifleman to achieve this honour. 

He returned to his Post Office career after the war and was later awarded an MBE (civil) in June 1951.  He died in Birmingham on 4 December 1960.

Distinguished Service Order, 1918, accession number: OB1997.212/1

This medal was awarded to Captain Home Peel of the 1st/ 8th Battalion (Post Office Rifles). 

Peel joined the Regiment as Second Lieutenant in 1914 and later became Lieutenant and Captain. The battalion saw active service from March 1915 but sadly Peel was killed in action near Longueval on 24 March 1918 during the retreat from Cambria.

This medal is a Distinguished Service Order, instituted in 1886 for individual instances of meritorious or distinguished service in war, typically in actual combat.  Recipients of the Distinguished Service Order were entitled to use the letters DSO after their name. 

Peel was recommended for a Distinguished Service Order for his part in the battle of the Somme in 1916 but at this time he was only mentioned in the despatches. His bravery was later rewarded however when in 1918 he was finally awarded a Distinguished Service Order. 

Peel was also awarded a Military Cross medal for leading an attack on German trenches at Festubert in 1915.  The BPMA also holds this in the collection as well as other medals of Peel’s, all of which were purchased at auction in 1991.

The medals are accompanied by nearly 60 documents and photographs relating to the career and wartime service of Home Peel, including certificates, coronation invitations, letters, newspaper cuttings, recommendations, dedications and much more. 

Perhaps the most moving of these documents is a letter sent to Mrs Peel from the German Soldier who found her husband’s body.  He writes; 'Although enemy and sometimes deeply hurt by the ridiculous tone of your home press, I feel it as a human duty to communicate you these sad news.  Capt. Peel was killed in action near Longueval and died, as it seems by the wounds received, without suffering.'  This shows that even in the bloodiest of battles and in the face of the enemy, humanity and compassion still existed.