The Civilian Service Medal 1939–1945 is awarded to civilians in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
during
World War II
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 ...
who served in arduous circumstances in support of the war effort as part of organisations with military-like arrangements and conditions of service. The medal was introduced in 1994, following a recommendation of the Committee of Inquiry into Defence and Defence Related Awards.
The Committee intended to extend recognition only to those whose war service in Australia was more arduous than the norm, and was performed under military-like conditions. Hence, Women's Land Army members, whose work was very physical, required them to live in rural areas away from their homes for lengthy periods, and was subject to military-like discipline, are generally eligible. On the other hand, members of the industrial workforce involved in munitions production are not eligible, as they overwhelmingly lived at home and were subject to standard civilian working conditions. The medal is therefore recognition of those not in the armed services, but who experienced wartime working conditions similar to the armed services.
Recipients must have served for at least 180 days in any one or a combination of the 38 eligible groups
Civilian Service Medal 1939–1945 eligibility guide
/ref> between 3 September 1939 and 2 September 1945. Recipients of the Civilian Service Medal 1939–1945 do not earn an entitlement to use post-nominal letters. As at 30 June 2006, 6,711 awards of the Civilian Service Medal 1939–1945 had been made.
Description
* The Civilian Service Medal 1939–1945 is bronze and portrays the Southern Cross
CRUX is a lightweight x86-64 Linux distribution targeted at experienced Linux users and delivered by a tar.gz-based package system with BSD-style initscripts. It is not based on any other Linux distribution. It also utilizes a ports system to ...
surrounded by golden wattle
''Acacia pycnantha'', most commonly known as the golden wattle, is a tree of the family Fabaceae. It grows to a height of and has phyllodes (flattened leaf stalks) instead of true leaves. The profuse fragrant, golden flowers appear in late ...
, Australia's floral emblem. The Southern Cross represents Australia and the golden wattle represents the civilian population joining in defence of the country.
* The medal ribbon has three vertical bands. The central band is ochre to represent the soil of Australia. The two outer bands are green for the land and food production. The two white stripes on the ribbon represent communication and construction.
References
External links
It's an Honour
{{DEFAULTSORT:Civilian Service Medal 1939-1945
Civil awards and decorations of Australia
1994 establishments in Australia
Awards established in 1994