Memorial Bar
Mark et al, The information on the documentation and medals awarded to Edward Smith brings attention to a Canadian commemorative which has largely been ignored. The Memorial Bar (aka the Birks bar) was created circa 1950, and according to records, awarded to the familes of every serviceman and woman who had died in the country's service during World War Two.
Is there a stamp on the medal record card that says something to the effect: Memorial Bar Despatched? (Ususally a rectangular ink stamp, within which there is a notation of the date the bar was sent.
In the late 1940's, there were complaints about the lack of naming on medals for WW2 service. There was talk of naming all service medals, but the task proved to be impractable. Instead, as a compromise, the government decided to send a sterling silver bar with the recipients name and date of death on it, to connect the service medals with the serviceman. The bar was struck by Birks Ltd., and designed to be sewn on the service medal ribbons. The intent was to have the un-named service medals sent to the family of the deceased individual connected to a that soldier. (Rather than having the medals themselves named.)
For historians today, this seems redundant. However as Mark's post of the Memorial Cross warrant indicates, the cross was sent to the female next of kin (mother, widow, eventually extended to sisters, and currently I believe it has been extended to male surviving relatives.) In this context, the Memorial Cross was not meant to be with the service medals, but were solely intended to be worn by the mother/widow of the fallen. The medals, as in Edward's case were usually sent to the father. As these were not named, the Memorial Bar would attach the fallen soldier to the service medals.
In essence, the Memorial Cross is a stand alone commemorative, intended to mark the life of the service person to their next of kin. The Memorial Bar was sent to the recipient of the medals, to name them for posterity. Of interest, the Memorial Bar was distributed in 1950 or 1951, to the last known address of the next of kin who had received the medals. In some cases this was the same address to which the Memorial Cross was sent. According to government records, all Memorial Bars (some 45,000) were despatched within several weeks at this time. Unfortunately, the Memorial Bars seem to have disappeared, and are seldom seen when compared to the Memorial Cross.
|