Air Force Medal

Air Force Medal
Reverse of medal and ribbon
Awarded by UK and Commonwealth
Type	Military decoration.
Eligibility	British, (formerly) Commonwealth, and allied forces non-commissioned officers and men
Awarded for	..for courage or devotion to duty in the air.
Status	Discontinued in 1993.
Statistics
Established	3 June 1918
Order of Wear
Next (higher)	Distinguished Flying Medal
Next (lower)	Constabulary Medal (de jure) Queen's Gallantry Medal (de facto)

Until 1993, the Air Force Medal was a military decoration, awarded to personnel of the Royal Air Force (United Kingdom) and other services, and formerly also to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, below commissioned rank, for "an act or acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying, though not in active operations against the enemy".

The medal was established on 3 June 1918. It was the other ranks' equivalent to the Air Force Cross, which was awarded to commissioned officers and Warrant Officers, although the latter could also be awarded the AFM. It ranked below the AFC in order of precedence, between the Distinguished Flying Medal and the Queen's Gallantry Medal.

It was announced in the London Gazette on 3 June 1918, but the actual Royal Warrants were not published in the London Gazette until 5 December 1919,

By order of the Royal Warrant, a bar could be awarded to recognise a second award of the Air Force Medal (18th paragraph of the Royal Warrant).

Recipients of the Air Force Medal are entitled to use the post-nominal letters "AFM".

Two awards appeared in the London Gazette on 3 June 1918.

Twenty-nine awards appeared in a supplement to the London Gazette of 8 February 1919. See also Flight Magazine, 20 February 1919, at page 243. Further awards appeared in the London Gazette of 3 June 1919 (Flight Magazine page 785).

The first awards of a Bar to the Air Force Medal were published in the London Gazette of 3 June 1919. See also 26 December 1919 for pioneering intercontinental flights.

In 1993, the AFM was discontinued and, since then, the Air Force Cross could be awarded to personnel of all ranks.

There were two categories of award, either "Immediate" or "Non-Immediate".

An "Immediate" award was one which was recommended by a senior officer, usually in respect of an act or acts of bravery or devotion to duty, deemed to command immediate recognition. In such circumstances, the recommendation for the award was passed as quickly as possible through the laid down channels to obtain approval by the AOC-in-C of the appropriate Command to whom, from 1939, the power to grant immediate awards was designated by King George VI.