Medals

Athol Gladwyn Adams served in the 5th Battalion, 1st AIF. He enlisted on 17 August 1914 and served in the Dardanelles campaign and in Egypt. He died in 1917. These British campaign medals were awarded to Athol after his death.

This group of medals are probably the most common WWI medals. In the UK, they were known as 'Pip, Squeak and Wilfred' after popular comic-strip characters in the Daily Mail newspaper. The medals were issued well after the war concluded in the 1920s. The first medal is the 1914-1915 Star. The middle medal is the British War medal and last medal the Victory medal. 

The first medal in the group is the 1914-1915 Star. The star itself is four-pointed and struck in bronze. Atop the star is a crown. Over the star are crossed swords and a wreath. The ribbon has the red, white and blue of the empire.

The central medal is the British War medal. It is silver in colour. Approximately 6.6 million of these medals were issued. The central figure is an abbreviated bust of King George V. On the reverse is a depiction of St George.

The Victory medal, on the right, was awarded to most of the British participants in the Great War. About 5.7 million of these medals were issued. The medal was struck in bronze. An oak leaf emblem was added for those 'mentioned in dispatches'. Athol was not mentioned in dispatches and there is no oak leaf.

After the Great War, from 1919 and for several years, there were over a million plaques and scrolls sent to the next of kin of those soldiers, sailors and airmen who died as a direct consequence of service in World War 1.

The plaque and scroll were sent to Adah Emily Sherwood, the next of kin and mother of Athol Gladwyn Adams.

The Memorial Plaque

This plaque is displayed in a fine, dark-brown leather case. On the in-side are the memorial medals for both of Adah's sons, Athol and Harold. The medals are set in brown velvet which is thinning a little so you start to see the silk underneath.

Accompanying the plaque was the King's message (there is one each for Athol and Harold):

The Memorial Scroll for Athol G. Adams is in a handsome bronze frame:

The text of the scroll reads:

'He whom this scroll commemorates was numbered among those who,

at the call of King and Country, left all that was dear to them,

endured hardness, faced danger and finally passed out of the sight of men by the path of duty and self-sacrifice, giving up their own lives that others might live in freedom.

Let those who come after see to it that his name be not forgotten.'

Lieut. Athol G. Adams

AFC  AIF

Australian Flying Corps  .  Australian Imperial Force