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John White · 23 July 2008, 05:39 PM

This is one possible explanation. The Victory Medal was not issued until 1919, after many rumours about the design of the medal and its ribbon. In the interim private companies - apparently only in the UK - sold ribbons in a variety of unofficial patterns to service personnel. The combination of colours was intended to represent all the allied powers. A few examples of various types ended up in Australia after the war. These were most likely acquired by personnel transiting back via the UK on their way home. There are several examples in the collection of the Australian War Memorial in Canberra e.g. on the uniform of Sergeant R H L Lord of 2 Field Ambulance AIF, who return to Australia in mid-1919. Further examples of contemporary unofficial Victory Medal ribbons are held by the AWM, including some that were apparently confiscated from servicemen by military authorities. Enquiries in London in the 1950's failed to locate any hard information about their origins.

The combination of the real ribbon and the un-official pattern is unusual, but in practice there was quite a bit of variation in how ribbons were worn in the immediate post-war period.

I haven't seen full details of all the ribbon variations, but enquiries in Britain may yield a more definitive identification of the example on Lt. White's uniform.

I hope that this this info is of assistance.

23 July 2008, 05:39 PM	#8 (permalink)
John White Observer Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Canberra, Australia Posts: 18	Unknown medal - possible explanation This is one possible explanation. The Victory Medal was not issued until 1919, after many rumours about the design of the medal and its ribbon. In the interim private companies - apparently only in the UK - sold ribbons in a variety of unofficial patterns to service personnel. The combination of colours was intended to represent all the allied powers. A few examples of various types ended up in Australia after the war. These were most likely acquired by personnel transiting back via the UK on their way home. There are several examples in the collection of the Australian War Memorial in Canberra e.g. on the uniform of Sergeant R H L Lord of 2 Field Ambulance AIF, who return to Australia in mid-1919. Further examples of contemporary unofficial Victory Medal ribbons are held by the AWM, including some that were apparently confiscated from servicemen by military authorities. Enquiries in London in the 1950's failed to locate any hard information about their origins. The combination of the real ribbon and the un-official pattern is unusual, but in practice there was quite a bit of variation in how ribbons were worn in the immediate post-war period. I haven't seen full details of all the ribbon variations, but enquiries in Britain may yield a more definitive identification of the example on Lt. White's uniform. I hope that this this info is of assistance.