Military Medal

Military Medal
Obverse of medal and ribbon
Awarded by UK and Commonwealth
Type	Military decoration
Eligibility	British and (formerly) Commonwealth forces
Awarded for	acts of gallantry and devotion to duty under fire
Status	Discontinued in 1993
Statistics
Established	25 March 1916 (back dated to 1914)
Order of Wear
Next (higher)	Distinguished Service Medal
Next (lower)	Distinguished Flying Medal
Related	Military Cross

Until 1993, the Military Medal (MM) was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army and other services, and formerly also to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, below commissioned rank, for bravery in battle on land.

The medal was established on 25 March 1916. It was the other ranks' equivalent to the Military Cross (MC), which was awarded to commissioned officers and, rarely, to warrant officers, although WOs could also be awarded the MM. The MM ranked below the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM), which was also awarded to non-commissioned members of the Army.

According to Frank Richards when the medal was first introduced, it was unpopular among regular soldiers. Richards writes: "There were no grants or allowances with the Military Medal, which without a shadow of a doubt had been introduced to save awarding too many DCMs. With the DCM went a money-grant of twenty pounds, and a man in receipt of a life pension who had won the DCM was entitled to an extra sixpence a day on to his pension. After the new decoration was introduced, for every DCM awarded there were fifty Military Medals. The old regular soldiers thought very little of the new decoration".

Recipients of the Military Medal are entitled to use the post-nominal letters "MM". Over 115,000 awards were made for actions during the First World War. Additionally, over 5,700 bars were awarded, as well as 180 second bars. There was one instance of a third bar being awarded; this was made to Private Ernest Albert Corey, who served as a stretcher bearer in the Australian 55th Infantry Battalion, which served on the Western Front.

During the Second World War, over 15,000 awards of the MM were made. The decoration has occasionally been bestowed upon non-British or Commonwealth subjects, and has also been awarded to some civilians, with the first such awards being made to two female civilians for actions during the Easter Rising in 1916.