Military medals were awarded to service personnel to mark where and when they served, and the exact medals someone received depended on their unit, campaign and dates of service.
Of everything in militaria, medals are the pieces people feel most strongly about. Each one was handed to a named individual for something he did, and British campaign medals carry that name round the rim, so a group of medals is really the record of one man's war. For a lot of buyers that turns a purchase into a research project, following a service number through records to find out where he was and what he came home from.
First World War groups usually turn on three medals: the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal, nicknamed Pip, Squeak and Wilfred after a 1920s newspaper comic strip. Not every serviceman received all three, but those who did wore them in that order.
Second World War awards work differently. The Defence Medal and the War Medal 1939-45 went to British personnel unnamed and in large numbers, while campaign stars such as the Burma Star were given only to those who served in one particular theatre, which is usually what separates an ordinary group from an interesting one.
Later campaigns come up as well. The United Nations Korea Medal, for instance, went to British and Commonwealth troops, among them the Gloucestershire Regiment, whose stand at the Imjin River in 1951 earned a rare US Presidential Unit Citation. New stock is added regularly, so it is worth checking back if you do not find what you are after straight away.
