Opinions from Military folk please

[B3NNL]

Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have my own opinions on this but would like to see what the rest of the PH Forces fraternity think?
I attended the remembrance parade at the Cenotaph last Sunday with my grandfather. He's a Suez vet and immensely proud of what he did and his time served.
As it transpired, a sneaky British Legion photographer took a photo of me pushing him through Horseguards and the image ended up on Facebook.
All is well so far. It all starts to go a bit awry when a chap who does medal mounting as his occupation starts spouting off that my grandfather is only wearing one issued medal and 3 purchased ones to "bling" himself up a bit, I have responded to his posts in the most controlled way possible and explained the whys and what fors, but he's a persistent chap and clings to the fact that the only official medal he’s wearing is a GSM. I know that 3 of them were not issued by the crown and as such would not be worn, certainly whilst serving, but my take is, once you're a civvy, if they were given to you, then you can wear them.
Don't even get me started on the mounting, especially as I paid to get them professionally done the month prior and he went and took them apart and remounted them himself as they were "in the wrong order"

Here is the link to the phot on FB and his comments are amongst the responses.

Luckily my grandfather doesnt do FB so hopefully this wont get back to him. I guess I'm more put out by this guys referance to stolen valour etc. I just fail to see that in this case but am happy to see what others think?

p.s. the camera angle is shocking as no way am I that porky! Jeez, I need to get back to the gym...

Edited by B3NNL on Tuesday 10th November 08:53

[98elise]

What are the other medals if not issued? I wouldn't wear any medal that wasn't earned and issued as part of my service.

Ex Royal Navy BTW

[Charlie1986]

I can see his argument or lack of argument but he is a cock socket of the highest order,

The medals he has are correct its similar to the medals now I have OP Telic OP Herrick and jubilee medal which was on my No2 dress before my discharge. But my Cyprus medal was not as its UN issued so you were not allowed to where it on your 2's or Mess dress, But when you get out you have it mounted beside your operational medals.

he would have said that many veterans who have done peacekeeping tours ( Cyprus-Kabul-Northern Ireland -Sierra Leone) as falsely wearing medals when they have earned them?

OP lovely picture will be one to cherish in the future

Edited by Charlie1986 on Tuesday 10th November 09:11

[Stuart70]

I am sure there is a whole lot of etiquette involved, but as a civilian with huge respect for our armed forces; I am delighted to see you both able to honour those involved in conflicts and rightly receive the recognition you deserve for serving your country.

All respect to both of you.

Let the pedants argue on... No need to dignify them!

[CharlesdeGaulle]

Charlie1986 said:

But my Cyprus medal was not as its UN issued so you were not allowed to where it on your 2's or Mess dress, But when you get out you have it mounted beside your operational medals.

O/T, but that is erroneous. UN medals should be worn with your British ones, and operational medals are usually worn in the sequence they were awarded. The ones that can't be worn in uniform are commemoarive medals or unauthorised foreign ones. Too late for you, but it sounds like you're correctly be-medalled now.

To the OP, there has been a lively debate in the pages of Soldier magazine and elsewhere about the so-called 'bling' medals, and opinions are sharply divided as you've discovered. Regardless, let the old boy enjoy his day and be proud of his service, and good on you for looking after him so well.

[Charlie1986]

CharlesdeGaulle said:

O/T, but that is erroneous. UN medals should be worn with your British ones, and operational medals are usually worn in the sequence they were awarded. The ones that can't be worn in uniform are commemoarive medals or unauthorised foreign ones. Too late for you, but it sounds like you're correctly be-medalled now.

To the OP, there has been a lively debate in the pages of Soldier magazine and elsewhere about the so-called 'bling' medals, and opinions are sharply divided as you've discovered. Regardless, let the old boy enjoy his day and be proud of his service, and good on you for looking after him so well.

They were talking about changing it before I got out. You used to be given it a small dark blue box what had the tours dates and what UN tour it was for In gold on the outside, The UN medal was not classified as it was not awarded by the Queen there for classed as a commemorative medal but now authority has been given by FCO to allow wear of these medals by serving or ex serving soldiers along side operational honours gained

[anonymous-user]

The pedantic numpty appears to have deleted his comments, and you and your mother have made dignified responses to his ill informed sniping. There is (justifiably) strong support for your grandfather on the FB thread. Problem over?

[anonymous-user]

I see that whilst numpty Aubrey has legged it, numpty Keith is still on the thread, but who cares what such people think?

[citizensm1th]

B3NNL said:

I have my own opinions on this but would like to see what the rest of the PH Forces fraternity think?

Personally I think some people should wind their necks in, you and your grandfather have earned the right to wear what ever the fk you want in any order you want and I for one will defend your right to do so with out the likes of facebook heros trying to kick up a spat over it.

Thankfully I will never have this prickly problem as I only did 3 years and never earned anything more than a GSM that I lost years ago.

I find it incredibly sad and annoying that in recent years people cant seem to wait for remembrance sunday to be over before scanning photos to find the smallest hint of perceived waltisum the sad fktards