‘The Only Time I Think I’m a Veteran is When I’m Dressed up’ – Medals as Symbols of Second World War Veteran Identity

This article argues that the object of the campaign medal can deepen our understanding of British Second World War veterans’ sense of veteran identity and indicate how far they, as individuals, have related to their wartime experiences over time. Unlike First World War veterans, this generation were required to claim their medals themselves, making them a useful marker to understand veterans’ connections to the conflict. Using interviews with Second World War veterans, newspaper reports and archival evidence, the experiences of individual veterans are traced over time. Situating this study within the fields of veteran identity and embodiment, veterans’ narratives with a focus on medals, uncovers how decisions whether to claim, use and wear their awards can be viewed as symbolic of veterans’ changing identity. These shifts were fuelled by the post-war climate, recollection and comradeship and the changing status of the veteran at the end of the twentieth century.