Description
WW1 New Zealand Honourable Discharge Badge often called a wound badge
Numbered NZ 25714
Missing pin
Condition as pictured.
This small silver badge is a pin designed to be worn on civilian clothes after early discharge from the army. It was first issued in 1916, when it was also retrospectively awarded to those already discharged since August 1914. The Silver War Badge was initially called simply the ‘War Badge’, it has also been popularly known as the ‘Silver Wound Badge’, ‘Services Rendered Badge’, ‘Discharged Soldiers Badge’, or ‘King’s Silver Badge’.
The certificate is an ornate printed scroll in which the number, names and unit of the discharged serviceman or woman were handwritten in a calligraphic script. The wording was ‘(…Number, rank, name, unit…) Served with honour and was disabled in the Great War. Honourably discharged on…’ There was a facsimile signature of King George V. There were different designs for the Army, Navy and Air Force, and for Imperial troops.
