So many persons to-day take a lively interest in naval
and military medals and decorations that there should be a large public for Dr. Stanley C. Johnson's timely handbook The Medal Collector (Jenkins, 7s. 6d. net). This volume " describes every (British) official award of note from the time of the Armada down to the honours won in the various theatres of the Great War." Dr. Johnson has collected a great deal of interesting information about early decorations. The first naval medals were granted by Queen Elizabeth after the defeat of the Armada, whilst the first army decoration of which we have any certain knowledge was awarded by Charles I. to Sir Robert Welch for recovering a lost standard at the battle of Edgehill in 1642. Although there were intermittent issues, such as the Waterloo medal and the Peninsula gold cross, " it was only when Queen Victoria lent her support in the matter that definite rules were laid down in connexion with the granting of medals for military compaigns." The Victoria Cross was instituted in 1856, the D.C.M. about the same time, the D.S.O. in 1886, and the M.C. and M.M. in the late war. It is interesting to note that 579 V.C.s were given between August, 1914, and February, 1920, as against 522 in previous campaigns. The coloured illustraticns of medal ribbons are remarkably well reproduced.
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