Medal ribbon Id please
 

This I a postcard of a thrice wounded RE warrant officer,and his lady. I presume this chap is a pre war regular, because he is wearing a Mons star and bar trio, but what is the first medal ribbon? Something pre war colonial I think.
Billyh

Possibly India General Service Medal 1908

Paul

Possibly DCM.

Possibly a DCM. Old photographic images are notoriously difficult to make sense of.

We know what it is not. Photo post-dates 1918, probably post-dates 1919 [promulgation/ issue WM and VM] by which time VC had to have [should have had] a miniature VC attached to distinguish it from several other similar ribbons.

I would like to think it DCM but in ortho film that ribbon usually shows colour contrast.

Try the GWF ..... there is a spectrum of ribbon-aware members.

I did consider the IGS and the DCM, but the former is green with broad ( I think black) central stripe, and the latter red with dark blue central stripe.
Billyh

I thought DCM because the centre part of the ribbon appears darker than the rest.

I don't see that.

The ribbon is in the senior position, thus either older campaign than 1914, or "gallantry" in a general sense.

Any O R could qualify for DCM. Likewise MM [clearly not that]. Any WO could qualify MC [complicated rules] Clearly not that.

One loose cannon is LS & GC .............. one needs an expert for when edging was intro, and where it was to be worn.

Having consulted my medal year book,now I've found it, there seem to be four possibilities. 1&2 LSGC Indian(for Europeans) or regular army British, both of which had a crimson ribbon up until mid ww1 when white border's were introduced, or 2&4 Meritorious Service Medal, again Indian or British which also had a crimson ribbon up to about the same time period when they had white borders added. I can't find any plain campaign ribbons. If it's any of those medals though, it's been mounted in the wrong order of presidence because it should be the last medal closest to his left shoulder after his war medals. I would have thought the tailor would know that & the WO.
Billyh

I think it is a D.C.M., 1914 Star and clasp, B.W.M., Victory Medal. He was very likely a regular soldier with service before and after the Great War.

The photograph was taken in Lewisham, S.E. London, which is very likely to be his home town. A search of the London Gazette using Lewisham as the word and 31/081914 and 31/12.1920 as your date parameters should find the right candidate. There may be several D.C.M. winners from Lewisham but his 1914 Star and Clasp should help to narrow the field.

His promotion to W.O. could well have been helped by his having a D.C.M., he may not have been a W.O. when the medal was awarded.

Looking at guaranteed DCM ribbons [Frank Richards DCM MM RWF for example] I can always see a paler centre stripe on ortho film.
There is the merest hint on the subject portrait, which might easily be curvature of silk catching the light.

Yes the DCM is the most likely but it is far from certain.

As for awarding the DCM to a substantive WO when the rules allowed for an MC, that is an interesting point, I have never seen research on the matter. The award of MM versus MC to a WO was a very complicated area, with the DCM lurking as a possibility.

A good project for a young enquiring mind ........... "did substantive WOs I or II get DCMs when serving as such?"

A strong contender. D.C.M. London Gazette 20th October 1918. I do not know if he made it to the Rank of W.O. after 1918.

I see what you mean about a hint of stripe to the centre ribbon Grumpy. Assuming it is a DCM, I don't think it is the chap whose details you give highwood, as he is 2 DG, and the subject is Royal Engineer's. On the actual card you can see his RE title.
Billyh

No problem, there are over 450 references to Lewisham in the London Gazette between 31st October 1914 and 31st December 1918. I haven't checked them all as life is too short, I was just showing you what you need to do if you want to identify the solder.

The problem is of course compounded, if he had recently married a girl from Lewisham but actually came from Catford.