MODMO and The Queen ’ s Platinum Jubilee Medal
By James Davies , JCCC & MODMO
Business Development Team
To mark the 70th
Anniversary of HM Queen ’ s Coronation , the Queen ’ s Platinum Jubilee , the special commemorative medal will be awarded to serving front line members of the Armed Forces , along with the police , fire , emergency , and prison services . The MOD Medal Office ( MODMO ) team , part of Defence Business Services ( DBS ) and based in Imjin Barracks , are undertaking their final preparations for the formal issue of this medal , in Spring 2022 . Most Service personnel who qualify will be identified automatically through Joint Personnel Administration ( JPA ) HR system , which means that they will not have to apply to MODMO for it .
Once the discs are struck , they become the medal coin . A ring suspension is then soldered to the rim of the coin and the medal is plated and given a final clean before leaving the Birmingham factory for Coventry . Here the ribbon and brooch bar are added before the finished medals are placed in presentation boxes ready for onward distribution .
THE MEDAL
The Platinum Jubilee Medal has been designed by Timothy Noad of the College of Arms and features an image of The Queen with the Latin inscription ‘ Elizabeth II Dei Gratia Regina Fid Def ’ which translates as ‘ Elizabeth II , By the Grace of God , Queen , Defender of the Faith ’.
Made of nickel silver , the medal is produced by Worcestershire Medal Service , the MOD ’ s sole medal contractor , at their premises in Birmingham ’ s jewellery quarter .
It is the fourth jubilee medal created for The Queen and the seventh official Jubilee medal to be awarded by a Monarch . Previous medals were officially awarded to celebrate The Queen ’ s Silver Jubilee in 1977 , Golden Jubilee in 2002 and Diamond Jubilee in 2012 .
DEFENCE BUSINESS SERVICES ( DBS )
MANUFACTURE
The MODMO team manages the contract to procure all the medals , awards , stars , and badges required for Defence . On this occasion , we have tasked the medal contractor to produce The Queen ’ s Platinum Jubilee Medal , not just for the Armed Forces but also for all those across Government who will be eligible .
The medals start their life in the company ’ s Bromsgrove Office as a 3D image scanned from the plaster cast of the design that HM The Queen approved . This 3D model is then used to laser cut medal dies both for the obverse and reverse of the medal . To manufacture close to 400,000 medals over 30 dies have been produced .
The creation of the nickel silver discs is the first part of the production line process at the Birmingham factory . Nickel silver coil strip is passed through a blanking machine which cuts 32mm discs which are then cleaned in a vibro cleaner and then annealed at high temperature before they are ready to be struck .
A major milestone will be 6 February 2022 , the date on which eligibility to the medal is based . A computerized process to identify all those eligible will produce nominal rolls of personnel , organized according to the distribution hubs identified by the single Services ; the report is so large , it will likely take 12 days to run . Then MODMO will instruct how many medals need to go to each hub . Once at the hubs , medals will then be distributed to units , and then on to individuals according to the nominal rolls . While all this is going on , the MODMO team will be carrying out assessments for those whose eligibility cannot be done automatically , as well as organizing priority deliveries of medals to units due to parade before The Queen as part of Her Majesty ’ s Jubilee celebrations . The main roll out period for delivery is planned for 1 March and 30 June 2022 .
CONCLUSION
Getting a single medal to some 160,000 personnel in a short period is without doubt a mammoth undertaking ; the final word comes from Clive Montellier OBE , who heads up both MODMO and the Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre :
“ The roll out of the Queen ’ s Platinum Jubilee Medal is an excellent example of the Whole Force approach in operation , as the task would simply not be possible without the cooperation of our
Clive Montellier commercial partners , the single Services , and civil servants of Defence Business Services and the wider MOD , all playing their unique parts to deliver this medal to mark a most prestigious occasion . All concerned are honoured to be involved ”. For more information on medals and MODMO please visit www . gov . uk / topic / defence-armed-forces / military-awards-commemorations
@ MODDBS the imjin WINTER 2021 15