NAM.2001-05-586-1

Defence Medal 1939-45. Awarded to 2297 Pte Walter Greenstreet, The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment). This medal is suspended on a ribbon with an orange central stripe, two green stripes either side and two thin black stripes, connected via a bar suspender. The obverse depicts the head of King George VI facing left with no crown and the text 'GEORGIVS VI D:G BR: OMN: REX F.D :IND:IMP' inscribed along the perimeter, meaning ‘George VI, by Grace of God, King of all the Britains, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India' in Latin. There is a hallmark just below the head of King George VI on the right hand side with the letters 'HP' referring to Thomas Humphrey Paget who designed the obverse of the medal. The reverse shows two lions flanking towards the royal crown with an oak sapling in the centre. The dates 1939 (left) and 1945 (right) are either side of the lions near the top of the medal and two wavy lines are at the bottom. Below the lines reads 'THE DEFENCE MEDAL'. Just under the oak sapling are the initials 'HP' the makers mark of Harold Wilson Parker. From the collection of the former Buffs Regimental Museum.

World War Two (1939-1945)