4th Medal in a set?

[Alan24]

On 02/12/2021 at 12:23, tankengine888 said:

Well, he was only supposedly 22 when he signed on... child soldier at 10 wouldn't fix.
Cheers anyhow.

Don't forget, in the UK anyway, war service counted double time for TFEM qualification so he wouldn't have actually have had to serve 12 calender years to qualify, only 8 (ish). 

[tankengine888]

5 minutes ago, Alan24 said:

Don't forget, in the UK anyway, war service counted double time for TFEM qualification so he wouldn't have actually have had to serve 12 calender years to qualify, only 8 (ish). 

Plausable.. drummer boy? Since I know boys as young as 11 were drummer boys.

[charlie2]

I think it is highly improbable that the ribbon is that of the TFEM, as his war service was with the AIF which would not be reckonable service with the TF. Soldiers leaving the TF and rejoining as a regular did not qualify for the medal after further service in the regular army.
 

Charlie

[james_harvey]

 I believe it is either the Gallipoli star ribbon that was issued or the 1st type of victory medal ribbon

 

it does look like 4 ribbons so my guess would be the Gallipoli ribbon

[tankengine888]

32 minutes ago, james_harvey said:

 I believe it is either the Gallipoli star ribbon that was issued or the 1st type of victory medal ribbon

 

it does look like 4 ribbons so my guess would be the Gallipoli ribbon

Im unsure about that one mate, but is a possibility.

I did read the original Gallipoli Star ribbons had been sent out by 1918 but the medal had not. 

Zidane.

[nhclark]

If the ribbons are mounted properly, the three-ribbon bar will be 4 inches long. I'm sure that there must be an AIF uniform somewhere where the width of the pocket can be measured. It would be a useful piece of trivia to have, because these black and white images of medals taken at all sorts of angles and in different lights are quite a frequent topic on the GWF.

The Wikipedia article on the proposed and then cancelled "Gallipoli Star" says that the ribbons were shipped to both Australia and New Zealand, but there's no mention of whether any were issued.

Edited 26 November , 2022 by nhclark

[TullochArd]

On 26/11/2022 at 01:10, james_harvey said:

........ it does look like 4 ribbons so my guess would be the Gallipoli ribbon

Agreed four ribbons are worn here.  There is no official reference to Olsen having any more than three medals issued.  The balance of probability therefore suggests the fourth is the Gallipoli Star medal ribbon.  The AWM site tells us that this was designed in 1917 but authority was withdrawn before the medal was struck but not before the ribbon had been produced and "Some Anzac veterans are known to have been issued with lengths of ribbon during the war in anticipation of the medal's production."  Looks like Olsen was one of them.

Edited 27 November , 2022 by TullochArd

[tankengine888]

1 hour ago, TullochArd said:

Agreed four ribbons are worn here.  There is no official reference to Olsen having any more than three medals issued.  The balance of probability therefore suggests the fourth is the Gallipoli Star medal ribbon.  The AWM site tells us that this was designed in 1917 but authority was withdrawn before the medal was struck but not before the ribbon had been produced and "Some Anzac veterans are known to have been issued with lengths of ribbon during the war in anticipation of the medal's production."  Looks like Olsen was one of them.

I suppose (all things considered), it must be the Gallipoli Star. Shame he didn’t live long enough to see the actual medal minted. Makes you wonder how many more veterans had the Gallipoli Star Ribbon (and wore them) in 1919-1923. 
I’ll concede to the fact it is most likely the Gallipoli Star, Thanks!

Zidane.

[nhclark]

10 minutes ago, tankengine888 said:

I suppose (all things considered), it must be the Gallipoli Star. Shame he didn’t live long enough to see the actual medal minted. Makes you wonder how many more veterans had the Gallipoli Star Ribbon (and wore them) in 1919-1923. 
I’ll concede to the fact it is most likely the Gallipoli Star, Thanks!

Zidane.

I'd just like to add that if the AWM has evidence that "Some Anzac veterans are known to have been issued with lengths of ribbon during the war in anticipation of the medal's production" then it really ought to be able to produce it if questioned. Have you considered a polite enquiry to the AWM? It might be worth it if you can obtain a definitive answer. The AWM may even be able to comment on the photograph itself.

[tankengine888]

2 minutes ago, nhclark said:

Have you considered a polite enquiry to the AWM? It might be worth it if you can obtain a definitive answer. The AWM may even be able to comment on the photograph itself.

Funny that, I enquired to the AWM almost immediately after I got my hands on the photograph. They said that he was wearing the ANZAC ‘A’, light horse and wearing the trio + 1 ribbon they couldn’t identify.

 

Zidane.