The Sun reports on its front page today that campaigners claim a decision not to award the crew of HMS Concord medallic recognition for their actions in the Yangtze River in 1949 is because the MOD fears it “will aggravate the Chinese”. The newspaper links this to President Xi Jinping’s current state visit.
To be clear, the latest decision on whether to award a medal was made independently of the MOD and following a review that concluded in July 2014.
Following campaigning by a number of Armed Forces veterans, the Coalition Government invited Sir John Holmes to conduct an independent review of a number of outstanding medal-related issues, one of which was the original decision not to recommend the crew of HMS Concord for the Naval General Service Medal with the clasp Yangtze 1949.
The Independent Review carefully considered the Concord veterans’ case that they should be eligible for the clasp, but concluded that it was unable to recommend a change of policy and that there was no basis for the ship’s company to qualify for this award.
It concluded: “Other crews who took part in the action in the Yangtze involving a Chinese attack on the RN destroyer HMS Amethyst in 1949 were awarded the clasp. The crew of the Concord, which escorted the Amethyst into international waters at the end of the operation, were not. However there is insufficient reason to overturn this decision, given that the issues appear to have been considered at the time and that, although the Concord entered the river, she was not fired on and was at risk for only a few hours.”
The Independent Review’s conclusions were subsequently endorsed by the Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals - also known as the HD Committee.
Although the following statement was provided to the Sun, it was not included in its article.
A MOD spokesperson said:
The MOD recognises the courage shown by the crew of HMS Concord in 1949 as they provided assistance to HMS Amethyst in the Yangtze river. Sir John Holmes declined to overturn the original decision not to award the Naval General Service Medal 1915-62, with the clasp Yangtze 1949, to the Concord’s crew. This decision was made independently of the MOD and supported by the Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals and the Queen.
