General Service Medal 1962
The General Service Medal was introduced in 1962 to replace the 1915 Naval General Service Medal and the 1918 General Service Medal. It was intended to reward service in situations that were worthy of commemoration but not of a sufficient scale to justify an individual campaign medal.
The ribbon is 1.25" wide and has a central stripe of deep purple with green stripes either side.
The obverse of the medal shows a crowned effigy of Queen Elizabeth II with the legend "ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA F: D:" The reverse has an Oak wreath enclosing a crown and the words "FOR CAMPAIGN SERVICE". It has a beaded and curved suspension, above which are mounted campaign clasps.
There have been a total of 13 clasps issued with this medal.
Radfan
South Arabia
South Vietnam
Dhofar
Lebanon
Gulf
Mine Clearance--Gulf of Suez
Kuwait
N. Iraq & S. Turkey
Air Operations Iraq.
The numbers of clasps issued, varies from around 70 for South Vietnam to well over a 100,000 for Northern Ireland. The medal is still in today. The General Service Medal 1962 counts towards the qualification period for the Accumulated Service Medal.