1914 Rabaul Ribbon

[stevenbecker]

I must admit having delt with large numbers (over 300 men) of these AN&MEF men, who later served in the ALH, I have never heard it mentioned as a Rabaul Ribbon

While the wearing of some ribbon is mentioned as being worn by some of these men later in the war, I always thought in ref to the 1914/15 star as stated earlier being worn

But did they wear this ribbon?

As Keith mentioned it was not around in 1917?

Did they wear a 1914 ribbon, is possible as they joined and served during that time in PNG (1914)

But as stated that was awarded for service in France?

Its clear that many men felt the need to show some form of reconigtion of there service in PNG during 1914, and the only ribbon at the time was the the 1914 star

Was that used unofficaly by these men, is unclear, but they did wear some form to show that service

 

Edited 19 March by stevenbecker

[Keith_history_buff]

On 27/02/2024 at 12:28, tankengine888 said:

Report dated March 11th, 1918

Rabaul is in Quotation marks already. See image below.

 

A reminder as to where the comment came from, in the first place.

[WhiteStarLine]

2 hours ago, Keith_history_buff said:

It does look as though an unofficial Rabaul ribbon

I see what you mean and that is very plausible.  Totally unofficial but sanctioned for a specific event and after that event he continued to wear it.  All his colleagues knew he had earned it, so said nothing and it became a de facto entitlement.

Cheers, Bill

[tankengine888]

2 hours ago, Keith_history_buff said:

I still don't have an answer to that question. It does look as though an unofficial Rabaul ribbon could have come about as a result of the first ANZAC Day

'When Monash led his brigade in commemorating the first Anzac Day [in 1916], men who had served at Gallipoli wore a blue ribbon on their right breast and those who had gone ashore as part of the first landing wore a red ribbon as well.'

In due course, this unofficial arrangement was replaced by a more formal insignia

The ANZAC "A" badge is a brass insignia authorised in November 1917 for members of the First Australian Imperial Force who had served during the Gallipoli campaign in 1915.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANZAC_A_badge

 

Monash led the 4th Brigade onto Gallipoli and had seen no service in the AN&MEF. I think however that I am missing the point entirely.

I think I'll take Bill's point for now, to save us from running in a full circle.

Zidane.

[WhiteStarLine]

20 minutes ago, tankengine888 said:

I think however that I am missing the point

Hi Zidane, Keith's argument is that Monash authorised wearing a ribbon for Gallipoli service and this unofficial and probably unsanctioned rule bending was also taken up by those who had landed at Rabaul.  So the logic wasn't that Monash was an ANMEF member but that he had sanctioned a ribbon for an earlier action.  Therefore those who had served at Rabaul probably started wearing a ribbon.

Until someone discovers some archaic regulation that allowed naval personnel to wear a Rabaul ribbon and for army personnel formerly in the navy to continue to wear naval award ribbons, I'm happy with Keith's logic.

Cheers, Bill

[tankengine888]

1 minute ago, WhiteStarLine said:

Hi Zidane, Keith's argument is that Monash authorised wearing a ribbon for Gallipoli service and this unofficial and probably unsanctioned rule bending was also taken up by those who had landed at Rabaul.  So the logic wasn't that Monash was an ANMEF member but that he had sanctioned a ribbon for an earlier action.  Therefore those who had served at Rabaul probably started wearing a ribbon.

Until someone discovers some archaic regulation that allowed naval personnel to wear a Rabaul ribbon and for army personnel formerly in the navy to continue to wear naval award ribbons, I'm happy with Keith's logic.

Cheers, Bill

I see now, misinterpretation on my part. A wee bit tired after homework and lesson planning.

I do believe the thinking is sound, and the most plausible.

Zidane.