Ireland - Republic of: Emergency Service Medal 1939-1946, with scarce 26th Battalion ‘26u Catlan’ reverse, complete with ‘Seirbís Náisiúnta’ top bar, and with two additional 1939-1946 award bars - the maximum possible entitlement.
Condition: Good Very Fine.
The medal was instituted on 6 October 1944 to reward service during World War II, referred to in Ireland as the ‘Emergency Period’, Ireland remaining neutral but vigilant. The medal had eleven variations of the reverse for different service units. This example is for members of the full-time Defence Forces, comprising the Army, Air Corps and Navy. A minimum of two years’ service was required to gain this medal and the ‘1939 - 1946’ bar was awarded for an additional two years’ service. This example was therefore awarded for service throughout the six-year period. In practice, it was not until 1947 that the medal was manufactured and distributed.
The 26th Infantry Battalion was composed almost entirely from members of the Old Irish Republican Army, many of whom saw action against British Crown Forces prior to 1921.
