The Silver War Badge

The Silver War Badge, sometimes wrongly referred to as the Silver Wound Badge, was instituted from 12 September 1916 under Army Order 316. It is a circular badge with the legend "For King and Empire - Services Rendered" surrounding the King George V cypher. The badge had a pin for wear as a brooch.

The badge was awarded to all of those military personnel who had served at home or overseas during the war, and who had been discharged from the army under King's Regulations. Expiry of a normal term of engagement did not count and the most commonly seen KR is 392(xvi), meaning the soldier had been released on account of being permanantly physically unfit.

It was possible to be awarded a badge if the man had not served overseas - and if his service record is now lost this may be the only remaining evidence of service for such a soldier.

Causes for discharge: King's Regulations 392

There are various different ways in which someone could have been discharged under the King's Regulations. They are:

• (i) References on enlistment being unsatisfactory.
• (ii) Having been irregularly enlisted.
• (iii) Not likely to become an efficient soldier.
• (iv) Having been claimed as an apprentice.
• (v) Having claimed it on payment of £10 within three months of his attestation.
• (vi) Having made a mis-statement as to age on enlistment.
• (vii) Having been claimed for wife desertion.
• (viii) Having made a false answer on attestation.
• (ix) Unfitted for the duties of the corps.
• (x) Having been convicted by the civil power of_____, or of an offence committed before enlistment.
• (xi) For misconduct.
• (xii) Having been sentenced to penal servitude.
• (xiii) Having been sentenced to be discharged with ignominy.
• (xiv) At his own request, on payment of _____ under Article 1130 (i), Pay Warrant.
• (xv) Free, after ____ years' service under Article 1130 (ii), Pay Warrant.
• (xvi) No longer physically fit for war service.
• (xvia) Surplus to military requirements (having suffered impairment since entry into the service).
• (xviii) At his own request after 18 years' service (with a view to pension under the Pay Warrant).
• (xix) For the benefit of the the public service after 18 years' service (with a view to pension under the Pay Warrant).
• (xx) Inefficiency after 18 years' service (with a view to pension under the Pay Warrant).
• (xxi) The termination of his ____ period of engagement.
• (xxii) With less than 21 years' service towards engagement, but with 21 or more years' service towards pension.
• (xxiii) Having claimed discharge after three months' notice.
• (xxiv) Having reached the age for discharge.
• (xxv) His services being no longer required.
• (xxva) Surplus to military requirements (Not having suffered impairment since entry into the service).
• (xxvi) At his own request after 21 (or more) years' service (with a view to pension under the Pay Warrant).
• (xxvii) After 21 (or more) years' qualifying service for pension, and with 5 (or more) years' service as warrant officer (with a view to pension under the Pay Warrant).
• (xxviii) On demobilization

The King's Certificate of discharge

It seems that most badges were accompanied by a King's Certificate although strictly these were issued subject to separate regulations.

Army Orders 138 and 139 of May 1918 cover the award of the "King's Certificate" and "King's Second Certificate" to officers and men respectively. In the case of the latter, they had to have been discharged under Paragraphs 392 (xvi) or (xvia) of King's Regulations "on account of disabilities contracted" following service overseas in a theatre of operations "with an Expeditionary Force in the present war" or "on account of disablement certified to be directly attributable to the action of the enemy e.g. air or naval raids" and in the case of those serving with the flying services, "disablement certified to have been caused or aggravated by military service while engaged on flying duty in connection with operations against the enemy". Thus entitlement to the badge did not necessarily entitle a man to the award of a certificate whilst those awarded a certificate would most certainly have been entitled to a badge.

Researching the award of the Silver War Badge

The award of the badge was noted on the man's medal index card, usually as SWB List, followed by a code. The code is the key to the entry in the war badge roll. They tend to be much more informative than the medal rolls, giving date of enlistment, age (sometimes), cause of discharge, whether the man had been overseas and occasionally other details.

Each badge was individually numbered and the number is shown against the man's name in the roll. It is therefore possible, if tricky, to work backwards from a badge number to a the man or woman that claimed it.