What can I find from medal records?
Every soldier qualified for at least one campaign medal if he left his native shore to serve overseas.The medal records generally do not have age, address, next of kin or similar information. But they are vital records that can reveal much about the man’s service, especially if the man’s army service record can not be found.
Eligibility
See this page for details of the medals and what a man had to do in order to qualify. Essentially if a man went overseas at any time, even if he did not enter into a theatre of war, he will have been eligible for one or more medals and there will be records of their issue.
The campaign medal rolls
See this page for details of the rolls, where they can be found and the information they provide. The man’s details were entered into an issuing roll, one entry per type of medal (although the British War and Victory Medals were usually issued from the same roll). The man’s numbers, ranks, regiments and sometimes dates in theatre and other details are given.
The medal index card
See this page for details of the cards and where they can be found and this page for how to interpret a card.
Silver War Badge
If a man did not qualify for medals he may have qualified for the Silver War Badge, which had a similar roll system of recording.