Gulf Medal


The Gulf War Medal was a campaign medal approved in 1992, for issue to officers and men of British forces who served in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia during Operation Granby in 1990–91.

Medal

The Gulf Medal is cupro-nickel and in diameter, with the following design:
Two clasps were authorised for those who served in Kuwait during the Iraqi invasion, and for those who took part in operations to liberate Kuwait:
In undress uniform, a rosette is worn on the medal ribbon to denote the award of either clasp.
There was no minimum qualifying period for those decorated for bravery, while the period could be reduced for those killed, wounded or taken prisoner.

Numbers awarded

The breakdown of awards to the armed forces was as follows:
ServiceMedal onlyMedal with clasp 2 Aug 1990Medal with clasp 16 Jan to 28 Feb 1991Total
Royal Navy2,409Nil3,9426,351
Royal Marines130Nil407537
Army4,0934634,69238,831
RAF5,673208,27513,968
Total12,3056647,31659,687

About 1,500 civilians including American, Australian, British, Canadian and New Zealand members of British Aerospace working at Dhahran and Riyadh also received the medal with the clasp 16th Jan to 28th Feb. Most were recently retired members of their respective country's armed forces.

Related medals

Recipients of the Gulf Medal were also entitled to the Kuwaiti Liberation Medal and the Saudi Liberation of Kuwait Medal, awarded to all allied personnel involved in the liberation of Kuwait. British service personnel were granted permission to accept these, but not to wear them in uniform.
Service in the Middle East after the liberation of Kuwait was recognised by the General Service Medal with clasps Kuwait and N. Iraq & S. Turkey.
British personnel could also qualify for the United Nations Medal for UNIKOM, for a minimum of ninety days service between 1 April 1991 – 6 October 2003.
Qualifying service for the Gulf Medal does not count towards the period required to receive the Accumulated Campaign Service Medal.