The Complicated Provenance of the Gallipoli Star

General William Birdwood at Gallipoli

By James Patton

In October 1917, Lieut. Gen. (later Field Marshal) William Birdwood GCB GCSI GCMG GCVO CIE DSO (1865–1951), who commanded Australian and New Zealand forces from 1914 to 1918, recommended to the King that a “Gallipoli Star” (originally to be called the ANZAC Star) should be awarded to members of the Australian Imperial Force and the 1st New Zealand Expeditionary Force who served at Gallipoli. King George V approved the idea the following month, somewhat embellishing in his statement that the award should go to “. . . all Dominion officers and soldiers of the Australian, New Zealand and Newfoundland military forces who actually served with an Expeditionary Force provided that they landed on the Gallipoli peninsula prior to the evacuation thereof.” 

However, in August 1918, even though the design of the medal and the conditions for the award had been approved, the project was halted following criticism from Members of Parliament and the newspapers in the United Kingdom who were outraged that British personnel (even Birdwood himself) would be ineligible for this award. 

1914–15 Star

Consequently the British War Ministry decided that the 1914–15 Star (very similar to the 1914 Star, popularly known as the Mons Star),  would be the sole award to all personnel who had served at Gallipoli, in Egypt and in the capture of German colonies. Thus that qualification was reworded to read any subject of the King who served on the establishment of a unit in any theatre of war between 5 August 1914 and 31 December 1915, provided that they had not previously qualified for the nearly identical 1914 Star, which had been awarded in 1916.  However, Australia had procured thousands of meters of the ribbon and the dispatch to their units had already begun.

This wasn’t the end of the Antipodean desire for unique commemoration of their Gallipoli service. Parliamentary campaigns to adopt the Gallipoli Star were mounted in 1949–50, 1962, and 1966.  As a result, in 1967 the governments of Australia and New Zealand created a "Civil Honor" instead, known as The Anzac Commemorative Medallion.

This was bestowed upon members of the Australian and New Zealand forces who served on the Gallipoli Peninsula, or in direct support of the operations from close off shore, at any time during the period of the invasion.

The Anzac Commemorative Medallion, Instituted 1967

The medallion was cast in bronze. The obverse side depicts John Simpson and his donkey carrying a wounded soldier to safety. It is bordered on the lower half by a laurel wreath above the word “ANZAC.”

The reverse side shows a relief map (not to scale) of Australia and New Zealand superimposed by the constellation of the Southern Cross. The lower half is bordered by New Zealand fern leaves. The name and initials of the recipient are also engraved on the reverse.  

Next of kin, or other entitled persons, were entitled to receive the medallion on behalf of their deceased relatives. 

In addition to the medallion, survivors were issued a miniature lapel badge.

But the saga of the Gallipoli Star wasn’t over yet. 

In 1989, Warrant Officer 1 Ross E. Smith OAM, a Vietnam War veteran who later served as the Army’s Sergeant Major Ceremonial, personally paid for A.J. Parkes & Co of Brisbane to strike 1,000 examples from the original dies. The medal design is an eight-pointed bronze star with a silver disc overlaid on the center. In the center of the disc there is a relief of the King's crown, encircled by the legend "GALLIPOLI 1914-15." The reverse bears only the hallmark “A.J.P.” as the medals are not named. The ribbon colors are the blue of the oceans, gold from the Australian wattle tree, grey for the New Zealand silver fern, and parallel bars of red for the blossoms of the Australian gum and the New Zealand rātā trees. Some say that the red really represents the bloody beaches of  25 April 1915.

The Gallipoli Star

Smith set aside two hundred of the Stars for presentation to surviving ANZAC Gallipoli veterans on the 75th anniversary of ANZAC Day, and the remainder were sold to museums, family members, and collectors. In 1996 an additional 1,000 were struck, all of these to be offered for sale. Being privately awarded, it wasn’t an official decoration. If, however, the Star were to be displayed today, say, by a descendant, it should be placed at the extreme right of a medals group, after any longevity, and foreign awards. 

Sources: Australian Defence Force, Australian War Museum and New Zealand Defence Force