Princess Royal Fortress Military Museum > Records

First World War ‘Returned from Active Service’ Badge issued to L/Cpl Albert Benjamin FREDRICKSON 933

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STOKES & SONS

c. 1916 - 1919

Overview

A crowned gilt bronze circular badge with two (2) lugs on the back. The Rising Sun appears behind a crown; below is a ribbon with ‘AUSTRALIAN MILITARY FORCES’ and below this, ‘A.I.F’. The top arc of the badge: ‘ISSUED BY DEPT. OF DEFENCE’ with the lower arc showing ‘RETURNED FROM ACTIVE SERVICE’.

Historical information

First issued by the Australian Government from 1916 until 1919, these badges were worn by those who had actively served their country and returned to Australia due to being discharged due to injury or had contributed to the war effort in other ways. This helped avoid public confusion when seeing men not wearing military uniform and so they were not targeted with the ‘white feather’.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-12-2023.14.2

Item type

Badges

Themes

War and Conflict > World War 1

Material

Bronze (Metal)

Gilt

Width

27 mm

Height or length

40 mm

Weight

10 g

Inscriptions and markings

Obverse “AUSTRALIAN MILITARY FORCES / A.I.F. / ISSUED BY THE DEPT. OF DEFENCE / /RETURNED FROM ACTIVE SERVICE”. Reverse “STOKES & SONS / MELB / 745228”

Contextual information

Albert Benjamin FREDRICKSON 933 was born in 1871 in Helsinki, Finland. He moved to Australia in the late nineteenth century and was a prospector in Western Australia. A naturalised British subject. Albert enlisted in the A.I.F. in Norseman on 6 July 1915 and served with the 32nd Battalion C Company on the Western Front, attaining the rank of Lance Corporal. Wounded in the head at the Battle of Passchendaele in October 1917, he was invalided and returned to Australia on the Durham Castle on 18 March 1918. Albert died on 17 June 1921 in the sanitorium at Wooroloo in Western Australia. His medal was given to the next-of-kin listed on his enlistment papers, Charles MOHR.

Keywords

First World War

Returned From Active Service Badge

Albert Benjamin FREDRICKSON

Place made

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Year

c. 1916 - 1919

Primary significance criteria

Historic significance

Social or spiritual significance

Comparative significance criteria