The Canadian Volunteer Service Medal is granted to persons of any rank in the Naval, Military or Air Forces of Canada who voluntarily served on Active Service from September 3, 1939, to March 1, 1947. The medal was established on October 22, 1943.

Criteria

Members of the Naval, Military or Air Forces of Canada are eligible for this medal if they voluntarily served on Active Service and honourably completed eighteen months (540 days) total service from September 3, 1939, to March 1, 1947. On March 14, 2001, the

Governor General Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

extended the eligibility to individuals who served, but not as members of the military forces. Those granted eligibility were Canadian World War II merchant mariners; Auxiliary Services personnel, engaged and paid by the

Canadian Legion The Royal Canadian Legion is a non-profit Canada, Canadian veterans' organization founded in 1925. Members include people who served in the military of Canada, military, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Canadian province, provincial or municipal ...

Knights of Columbus The Knights of Columbus (K of C) is a global Catholic Church, Catholic Fraternal and service organizations, fraternal service order founded by Michael J. McGivney, Blessed Michael J. McGivney. Membership is limited to practicing Catholic men. ...

Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. It is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. The organisation reports a worldwide m ...

and the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

; The Corps of Canadian (Civilian) Fire Fighters who served in the United Kingdom and helped fight the fires during the

Blitz Blitz, German for "lightning", may refer to: Military uses *Blitzkrieg, blitz campaign, or blitz, a type of military campaign *The Blitz, the German aerial campaign against Britain in the Second World War *, several ships of the Prussian, Imperia ...

; Overseas Welfare Workers and the

Voluntary Aid Detachment The Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) was a voluntary unit of civilians providing nursing care for military personnel in the United Kingdom and various other countries in the British Empire. The most important periods of operation for these units we ...

s; Ferry Command pilots and aircrew under contract to deliver aircraft from North America; and

British Commonwealth Air Training Plan The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), often referred to as simply "The Plan", was a large-scale multinational military aircrew training program created by the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand during the Second Wo ...

Instructors. On June 6, 2003, eligibility was extended to members and reserve constables of the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...

who voluntarily served during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The Canadian Volunteer Service Medal was awarded in addition to the standard British Commonwealth campaign awards for World War II, being worn after the Defence Medal and before the War Medal.

Description

The medal is circular, made of silver (.925 fine silver), in diameter. The

obverse The obverse and reverse are the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ''obverse'' ...

depicts seven marching figures, representing men and women of the army, air force, navy and nursing service. Around the rim is the inscription ''1939 CANADA 1945 VOLUNTARY SERVICE VOLONTAIRE''. The seven marching figures were based on real people taken from the National Defence photographs. The reverse shows the coat of

arms of Canada The coat of arms of Canada, also known as the Royal Coat of Arms of Canada or, formally, as the Arms of His Majesty The King in Right of Canada is the arms of dominion of the Canadian monarch and, thus, also the official coat of arms of Ca ...

. Medals were issued unnamed. The medal is linked to a straight suspender by a small ring passing through a small fixed ring at the top of the medal. It is suspended from a wide with a royal blue centre flanked by two equal stripes of scarlet and dark green, the dark green being on the edges. The ribbon was issued during the war; the medal after the war. The medal was designed by the war artist Major

Charles Comfort Charles Fraser Comfort, LL. D. (July 22, 1900 – July 5, 1994) was a Scottish-born Canadian painter, sculptor, teacher, writer and administrator. Career and biography Early life Born near Edinburgh, Scotland, Comfort moved to Winnipeg in ...

Bars

Overseas Bar

A silver bar with a maple leaf at its centre is awarded for 60 days service outside Canada; Newfoundland counted as outside Canada. A silver maple leaf is worn on the ribbon in undress. This bar was instituted in October 1943, at the same time as the medal.

Dieppe Bar

The Dieppe Bar, instituted in April 1994, is awarded to those who participated in the

Dieppe Raid Operation Jubilee or the Dieppe Raid (19 August 1942) was a disastrous Allied amphibious attack on the German-occupied port of Dieppe in northern France, during the Second World War. Over 6,050 infantry, predominantly Canadian, supported by a ...

on August 19, 1942. The bar bears the word ''Dieppe'' in relief on a pebbled background, below the

Combined Operations In current military use, combined operations are operations conducted by forces of two or more allied nations acting together for the accomplishment of a common strategy, a strategic and operational and sometimes tactical cooperation. Intera ...

emblem – an anchor surmounted by an eagle and a

Thompson sub-machine gun The Thompson submachine gun (also known as the "Tommy gun", "Chicago typewriter", or "trench broom") is a blowback-operated, Selective fire, selective-fire submachine gun, invented and developed by Brigadier general (United States), Brigadie ...

Hong Kong Bar

The Hong Kong Bar, instituted in April 1994, is awarded to those involved in the

Battle of Hong Kong The Battle of Hong Kong (8–25 December 1941), also known as the Defence of Hong Kong and the Fall of Hong Kong, was one of the first battles of the Pacific War in World War II. On the same morning as the attack on Pearl Harbor, forces of the ...

during the period of December 8–25, 1941. Two Canadian battalions, totalling 1,982 men, were present in Hong Kong and took part in the battle.

Bomber Command Bar

The Bomber Command Bar, awarded for minimum one day service with

Bomber Command Bomber Command is an organisational military unit, generally subordinate to the air force of a country. The best known were in Britain and the United States. A Bomber Command is generally used for strategic bombing (although at times, e.g. during t ...

during World War II, was announced by Minister of Veterans Affairs

Steven Blaney Steven Blaney (born April 8, 1965) is a Canadian businessman and Conservative politician. He served as the Minister of Public Safety Canada (July 15, 2013 – November 4, 2015) and previously as the Minister of Veterans Affairs and Minister ...

and National Defence Minister

Peter MacKay Peter Gordon MacKay (born September 27, 1965), a Canadian lawyer and politician, served as Member of Parliament (Canada), Member of Parliament from 1997 to 2015 and as Minister of Justice (Canada), Minister of Justice and Attorney General (20 ...

on June 25, 2012. On April 15, 2013, the design of the bar was unveiled. It is silver and depicts a four-engined Second World War–era bomber in the centre, superimposed on a pebbled background. The first bars were presented on August 26, 2013, by Minister of Veterans Affairs

Julian Fantino Julian Fantino, , (; born August 13, 1942) is a Canadian retired police official and former politician. He was the Conservative Party of Canada Member of the Parliament of Canada for the riding of Vaughan following a November 29, 2010 by-ele ...

in a ceremony at the

Canadian Forces College The Canadian Forces College (CFC) is a military staff college for senior and general officers of the Canadian Armed Forces. It provides graduate-level military education courses designed to develop leadership abilities within the Canadian Forces ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. Bomber Command Veterans, their families, and families of deceased veterans entitled to the bar were in attendance.

Issued

A total of 650,000 medals were awarded, of which 525,500 had the Overseas Service bar.

References

{{reflist Military awards and decorations of Canada Canada in World War II Military awards and decorations of World War II 1943 establishments in Canada Awards established in 1943 Awards and decorations for military volunteers