Guest Ian Topham Posted 5 July , 2003 Share Posted 5 July , 2003 In regards to the generally issued British Imperial medals to WW1 soldiers: The 1914 / 1914-1915 Star The British War Medal, and, The Victory Medal. 1) Apart from the obvious national colours of the 14/14-15 Star, what is the significance of the colours of the other two ribbons? 2) I believe that the above three had a nick-name of " Pip, Squeak and Wilfred ", can anyone enlighten me as to where did these nick-name's come from? 3) Also can anyone tell me how many international variations of " The Victory Medal " are known to exist. Many thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HERITAGE PLUS Posted 5 July , 2003 Share Posted 5 July , 2003 Ian Partial answer to your queries. The medal riband of the Allied Victory Medal has a rainbow effect which was chosen to avoid controversy - that it is it does not reflect any particular nations national colours over another. Others may no better but I think their are 14 versions. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Coulson Posted 5 July , 2003 Share Posted 5 July , 2003 Ian, Pip, Squeek and Wilfred were well known cartoon characters of the day. Bob. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Carter Posted 5 July , 2003 Share Posted 5 July , 2003 Pip, Squeak and Wilfred. Who were they? In 1921 British newspapers began giving away special comic supplements for children. The first was the Daily Sketch with their "Oojah Sketch," and soon after the Daily Mirror issued the "Pip & Squeak" drawn by A B Payne. The front cover of this comic supplement had a cartoon strip showing the adventures of three animals that were pets at the Daily Mirror building. Pip the dog, Squeak the Penguin and Wilfred the Rabbit. regards Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ian Bowbrick Posted 5 July , 2003 Share Posted 5 July , 2003 The definitive book on the Victory medal is 'The Interallied Victory Medals of WW1' by Alexander Laslo. The last edition, the second, is now out of print, but there is an American seller on eBay.com who is always selling at least one edition a week. The following nations had Victory medals: Belgium, Brazil, Cuba, Czeckoslovakia, France, Greece, Italy, Japan, Portugal, Rumania, Siam (Thailand), the USA and of course Great Britain. The GB medal has a South African variation written in Dutch. There is also a Philippine Constabulary Victory Medal for WW1 but this did not have the rainbow medal ribbon. There is also a Polish Victory medal, often to be found on the auction houses, but this was unofficial struck a long time after WW1 in Communist Poland and its origins are murky to say the least. This is a branch of medal collecting in itself as they are numerous unofficial versions of Victory medals. Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staffsyeoman Posted 6 July , 2003 Share Posted 6 July , 2003 And just to add.... the British War and Victory Medals on their own were known as 'Mutt and Jeff', similarly comic/cartoon characters. My reading was that the rainbow ribbon for the 'Allied Victory Medal' was agreed upon to obviate widespread exchange of national medals of the type.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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