Defence Launches Medals Website

Air Marshal Bruce Ferguson, Chief of Defence Force, this afternoon will officially launch the medals section of the New Zealand Defence Force website (http://www.nzdf.mil.nz ), providing comprehensive information on medals relevant to New Zealand from the South African War to the present.

“The decision to commission a comprehensive medals section for our website was made in light of the huge increase in interest in current and past medals awarded to New Zealand military personnel,” said Air Marshal Ferguson.

“I wanted to make as much information as possible available to the public and the internet is an ideal vehicle. I anticipate that the range of information provided on the website will reduce the number of medals enquiries received by the NZDF and the RNZRSA.

“This has been a massive project, consisting of some 450 pages and incorporating more than 100 high quality images of medals. Royal Warrants and Regulations are available on the site for many current medals. Each featured medal has its own page incorporating Obverse and Reverse images, a short text explaining the purpose and

/more…. history of the medal and links (where applicable) to Warrants, Regulations, Clasp Lists and the New Zealand Order of Wear. Also included is a General Medals information section incorporating information on Wearing and Applying for Medals, a Medallic Recognition Table, a Glossary of Medals Terms and a Bibliography.

“To achieve the result I wanted I contracted retired Naval Commander Stuart Duff as Project Officer. He worked with the NZDF Medals Website Governance Group to provide the NZDF medals expertise for the development. In addition, a range of other stakeholders were engaged in discussing their expectations for the site and in reviewing drafts of material developed for it. Included in this group were the Medals Committee of the RNZRSA, Mr Phillip O’Shea, the Defence Library staff, Staff Officer Medals, the Service Museums and a number of other acknowledged medals experts.

“The company who developed the NZDF Website, Neogine Communication Design, worked with the project to develop a design for the Medals section and was subsequently contracted to build it.

“I congratulate all who helped develop the medals section of our website on a job well done and I am confident that it will be a valuable resource for anyone interested in medals as they relate to New Zealand.

© Scoop Media