Africa Star

Infobox Military Award
name=Africa Star


caption=Obverse of medal and ribbon
awarded_by=United Kingdom and Commonwealth
type=Campaign medal
eligibility=
for=Service
campaign=Africa 1940-43
status=
description=Six pointed star
clasps=3
* 8th Army
* 1st Army
* North Africa 1942-43
established=
first_award=
last_award=
total=
posthumous=
recipients=
individual=
higher=
same=
lower=
related=


caption2=__NOTOC__

: "This article is about the British campaign medal. For the diamond see Star of Africa."

The Africa Star was a campaign medal of the British Commonwealth, awarded for service in World War II.

The Star was awarded for a minimum one day service in an operational area of North Africa between 10 June1940 and 12 May1943. The whole of the area between the Suez Canal and the Strait of Gibraltar is included, together with Malta, Abyssinia, Kenya, Sudan, The Solmalilands and Eritrea. The areas not bordering the Mediterranean only qualified for the Africa Star from 10 June1940 to 27 November1941.:Members of the Australian Imperial Force qualified for the Star for service in Syria from 8 June1941 and 11 July1941 [Commonwealth of Australia Gazette No S134 dated 10 April 1995] .

Description

* The Africa Star is a six–pointed star of yellow copper zinc alloy, with a height of 44mm and a maximum width of 38mm.
* The obverse has a central design of the Royal Cypher of King George VI, surmounted by a crown. The cypher is surrounded by a circlet containing the words ‘The Africa Star'.
* The reverse is plain, although Stars issued to Australian and South African personnel have recipient names engraved.
* The ribbon for this medal, along with those of the other Second World War campaign stars, is reputed to have been designed by King George VI. The sand of the desert is represented by pale buff, the Royal Navy (and Merchant Navy), British Army, and Royal Air Force are represented by stripes of dark blue, red, and light blue respectively.

Clasps

Regulations only allow one clasp to be worn with the Star, being the first clasp the recipient qualified for.
* 8th Army:Awarded for service with the 8th Army between 23 October1942 and 12 May1943. An '8' is worn on the ribbon in undress to denote this bar
* 1st Army:Awarded for service with the 1st Army between 8 November1942 and 12 May1943. A '1' is worn on the ribbon in undress to denote this bar
* North Africa 1942-43:Awarded for service with the navy, merchant navy, air force (from 23 October1942) or headquarters of the 18th Army Group (from 15 February1943) until 12 May1943. In undress, a rosette on the ribbon denotes this bar.

ee also

*British campaign medals
*Australian campaign medals

Bibliography

* Mackay, J and Mussel, J (eds) - "Medals Yearbook - 2006", (2005), Token Publishing.
* Joslin, Litherland, and Simpkin (eds), "British Battles and Medals", (1988), Spink

References

* [http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceFor/Veterans/Medals/AfricaStar.htm UK DoD site]
* [http://www.defence.gov.au/medals/Content/+040%20Campaign%20Medals/+100%20World%20War%20II/+040%20Africa%20Star/default.htm ADF Honours and Awards]
* [http://www.stephen-stratford.co.uk/wwii_medals.htm Stephen Stratford Medals site]
* [http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=collections/cmdp/mainmenu/group04/afstar Veterans Affairs Canada site]
* [http://medals.nzdf.mil.nz/category/h/h12.html NZDF Medals site]
* [http://medals.nzdf.mil.nz/warrants/h12-reg.html Africa Star Regulations from NZDF site]