Sometimes known as the
Silver War Badge (SWB), Wound Badge, Services Rendered Badge or the King‘s Silver Badge, this 1¼" (33mm) diameter Sterling silver lapel badge was issued from 1916 until 31st December 1919. It was accompanied by an official certificate of entitlement.
A total of
1,092,016 badges were issued; the fact that the badges are not hallmarked is indicative of their manufacture by the Royal Mint, although several contractors, including J R Gaunt & Son Ltd of Birmingham, were involved in the stamping of numbers and the fitting of pins.
Each badge was uniquely numbered on the reverse, Royal Navy, Merchant Navy, Royal Marines and Royal Air Force badges having an RN, MN, RM or RAF prefix respectively. Other prefixes for Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa (A, C, NZ and SA) were also used. Some badges with a prefix I (for India) also exist although they are rare.
It is through these serial numbers that details of the recipients may be researched by checking the War Badge rolls, although only those awarded to the Army can be researched at the Public Record Office.
