The Silver War Badge (SWB)

The Silver War Badge was issued in the United Kingdom and the British Empire to service personnel who had been honourably discharged due to wounds or sickness from military service in World War I. The badge, sometimes known as the “Discharge Badge”, the “Wound Badge” or “Services Rendered Badge”, was first issued in September 1916, along with an official certificate of entitlement.

The large sterling silver lapel badge was intended to be worn on civilian clothes. The decoration was introduced as an award of “King’s silver” for having received wounds or injury during loyal war service to the Crown‘s authority. A secondary reason for its introduction was that a practice had developed in the early years of the war where some women took it upon themselves to confront and publicly embarrass men of fighting age they saw in public places who were not in military uniform, by ostentatiously presenting them with white feathers, as a suggestion of cowardice. As the war had developed substantial numbers of servicemen who had been discharged from His Majesty’s Forces with wounds that rendered them unfit for war service, but which were not obvious from their outward appearance, found themselves being harassed in such a manner and the badge, to be worn on the right breast while in civilian dress, was a means of discouraging such incidents being directed at ex-forces’ personnel. It was forbidden to wear the badge on a military uniform.

WW1 Medals

Find out more

WWI Exhibition

To commemorate and celebrate the men and women who went to WW1 from the Parish of Badwell Ash, The Badwell Ash History Society held an […]

Read more...

BBC Radio Suffolk Interview : Pat

BBC Radio Suffolk’s Lesley Dolphin discusses the history of Badwell Ash and interviews Patricia Monk from Badwell Ash History Society on the 22nd March about the forthcoming […]

Read more...