RULES FOR THE AWARD OF THE LS & GC MEDAL AND GRATUITY - JUNE 1957

Qualification for Award.-The Long Service and Good Conduct Medal represents, with Good Conduct Badges, the highest standard of conduct in the Service and it is important that recommendations for the award of the medal should not be made as a matter of course on completion of the necessary period of qualifying service.

2. Gratuities.-Except where otherwise stated, the award of a Good Conduct Medal will carry with it, irrespective of rating, a gratuity of �20, payment of which will be authorized by the Director of Navy Accounts.

3. Entitlement.

(a) To be entitled to the award of the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal and Gratuity, a man must

(i) have completed 15 years' pensionable service with continuous " Very Good " character and with previous character not inferior to "Good in service which is reckonable for pension purposes. Where character during such service has been assessed as " Good " on the 81st December In any year, time reckoning for the medal will not commence until the let January following;

(ii) have actually re-engaged to complete time for pension (but see clause (b) below regarding ratings on non-continuous service engagements)

(iii) be In possession of the full number of Good Conduct Badges which he could have earned during his service ;

(iv) be provisionally recommended by the Captain of the ship or the Commanding Officer of the establishment in which he is serving at the time of the application as in every respect deserving of the award.

(b) Non-Continuous Service.-Maltese ratings serving on non-continuous service engagements are eligible for the award of the medal and gratuity under the foregoing conditions, except that clause 3(a) (ii) above is not applicable. Non-European native ratings, may be awarded the medal without gratuity if their records of service and character conform to the requirements for an award under the ordinary rules.

(c) Desertion will render a man ineligible for the award of the medal under the ordinary regulations (sea Article 8 - Special Recommendations).

L. Long Service and Good Conduct Gratuities Additional Allowance.-Men awarded the gratuity referred to in Article 2 will also be eligible to earn an additional allowance, which will be payable in a lump sum with the first payment of pension on discharge, at the rate of (1 for each year of qualifying service with " Very Good " character rendered subsequent to the award or restoration of the medal.

(a) A rating who is promoted to officer after the award of the medal and gratuity will be allowed, on confirmation in rank, to receive payment of any additional allowance that may have been earned up to the date of his promotion.

(b) Service during which a " Good " character is awarded will not count as qualifying service for the additional allowance, notwithstanding that the man may not have been deprived of the medal.

(c) When a man is deprived of or forfeits his medal he will forfeit the additional allowance already accrued. If the medal is restored before he is pensioned, the amount earned subsequently to the date of restoration only will be awarded.

(d) When a man is Invalided after having been awarded the medal and gratuity, and before completion of the full time for pension, he will be granted any additional allowance that may have been earned up to the date of his discharge.

(e) Any man who voluntarily quits the Service after the award of the medal and gratuity, and before becoming entitled to a pension, will forfeit all claim to any additional allowance that may have been earned.

(f) Where a man who has been discharged to pension is permitted to re-engage for a further period of service subject to relinquishment of pension, such further service will be allowed to count for purposes of the additional allowance under the usual regulations, provided that the man is qualified In all respects for this allowance.

6. Long Service and Good Conduct Gratuities and Additional Allowances of Dead Men.-If a man should die after the award of his medal any gratuity or additional allowance to which be may be entitled will be paid to his widow, or next-of-kin if dependent upon him.

8. Breaks in Service.-A break in service not due to desertion, dismissal, sentence of imprisonment, or other misconduct on the man's part, will not be considered as breaking the continuity of his " Very Good " character, or of recommendations for the medal and gratuity, provided that he rejoins within five years or, if invalided, as soon as the state of his health permits, or if approval has been given to bridge the break in service of more than five years.

(a) The names of men provisionally recommended for medals and gratuities, are to be sent to the Director of Navy Accounts on Form S.218, accompanied by their Service Certificates or certified copies thereof, in sufficient time to allow for verification of entitlement and preparation of the medal (normally one calendar month), and for approval to be received and presentation to be made on the date when the award is due.

(b) Recommendations for Royal Marine ranks disembarked are to be forwarded through the Director of Pay and Records, Royal Marines.

(a) If a man has the essential service qualification of 15 years with continuous " Very Good " character in accordance with the foregoing articles but is ineligible for the award of the medal under the ordinary regulations, the Admiralty will consider any recommendation for a special award of the medal on the grounds that the man has displayed heroism or gallantry in action or has rendered some special service in time of emergency, during service qualifying for the medal and subsequent to the lapse which disqualifies him under the ordinary rules. The recommendation should be made by letter submitted through the Commander-in-Chief or Flag Officer or for a Royal Marine serving on shore through the Director of Pay and Records, stating fully the circumstances in which the application is made.

(b) A recommendation for a man who has a record of 18 years' qualifying service with continuous " Very Good " character will also be considered although he may be disqualified under the ordinary regulations.

9. Presentation of Medal and Gratuity.

(a) When the approval of the Admiralty has been received, the medal is, if possible, to be presented by the Captain before the ship's company or for Royal Marines by the Commanding Officer on parade. The gratuity is to be paid on the authority which will be issued by the Director of Navy Accounts. In no circumstances is the medal to be presented or the gratuity to be paid before the date on which the award is due.

(b) The award of the medal and gratuity is to be noted on the Service Certificate. In order that the possession of the medal may not be overlooked when consideration is being given to deprivation of a Good Conduct Badge, the award of the medal is to be noted at the foot of the Badge column in addition to the Medals section of the Service Certificate.

10. Misconduct Pending Presentation.

(a) If a man's conduct should not have been satisfactory in the interval between the date on which he is provisionally recommended for the medal and the date on which the award would normally be due, the Admiralty is to be informed by signal. The medal will not be awarded and, if received in the ship, is to be returned with the authority for payment of the gratuity to the Admiralty, and the circumstances explained.

(b) If the presentation of the medal is for any reason delayed beyond the date on which the award is due, and misconduct (other than a trivial offence not breaking the continuity of a man's " Very Good " conduct or " V.G." character) occurs in the interval, the medal is to be withheld and particulars reported to the Commander-in-Chief or Flag Officer (or, for Royal Marines serving on shore, the Commandant General, Royal Marines), Unless the punishment awarded automatically involves loss of the medal, the report is to state whether or not deprivation of the medal would have been proposed had it been in the man's possession at the time of the punishment. If the report is to the effect that deprivation would have been proposed or if the misconduct, or the punishment awarded for it, would have involved the loss of the medal under Q.R. & A.I. Article 1958, the Commander-in-Chief or Flag Officer (or, for Royal Marines serving on shore, the Commandant General, Royal Marines), may direct that the medal should be regarded as awarded on the due date and deprived in accordance with that Article, unless such a course is considered inappropriate, when the matter will be reported to the Admiralty. In other cases the medal should be awarded as from the due date (but, if the man has lost a good conduct badge, not actually presented until the badge is restored) and retained, despite the intervening misconduct. In either event, award of the medal will carry with it payment of the gratuity.

NOTE.-The rules about restoration of the G.C. Medal are contained in Article 1959 of the Queen's Regulations and Admiralty Instructions.

11. First Clasp.-A man holding the medal who completes a further fifteen years' service on any kind of Royal Naval engagement, T.124 and variants excepted, with the character qualification required for the original award may be awarded a clasp to the medal. The award of the clasp will not entitle the recipient to any further gratuity or pension addition. Applications for the award are to be made on Form S.218 endorsed " CLASP ONLY," and forwarded as directed in clause 7, accompanied by the Service Certificate or a certified copy thereof.

12. Second Clasp.-A man holding the medal and clasp who completes a further 15 years' service under the same conditions required for the award of the first clasp, may be awarded a second clasp to the medal. Applications for the award are to be made on Form 5.218 as directed above.

NOTE.-Pensioners are not debarred from counting the additional service for the award of the clasps.

13. W.R.N.S. Ratings.

W.R.N.S. ratings will qualify for the medal and clasp under the same conditions as for men except that clause 3(a) (ii) will not apply. The gratuity will however, be �15 and the additional allowance 15s. 0d a year.

MERITORIOUS SERVICE ANNUITIES AND MEDALS

A sum not exceeding �400 a year is placed at the disposal of the Admiralty to be distributed in annuities not exceeding �20 as rewards for distinguished and meritorious service. This award was open either before or after discharge to Senior Non-Commissioned Officers of the Royal al Marines who had completed 21 years' service, or had been granted a life pension on account of wounds or hurts received in action or otherwise in the execution of duty.

2. As Royal Marines receive the L.S. and G.C. gratuity of �20, they are no longer eligible for this award. The Meritorious Service Medal has been awarded to all ranks who were registered in the Department of the Commandant General Royal Marines on 18th May, 1947, and no further awards will be made. Those to whom the Medal has been awarded remain eligible for the annuity and awards will be made, as and when vacancies occur.

3. The Medal and annuity are liable to forfeiture by recipients on conviction of treason, sedition or mutiny.

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