RAF Ground Claims?

[Woop]

Hi gents,

as you may know, we will be visiting the Cliffs of Dover towards the end of this year, and this I think necessitates that we revisit the RAF claiming routines and maybe RAF medals. This is mainly so that we can include ground victories in the RAF medal criteria, as the ACG Campaign has increasingly added emphasis on air to ground attacks. This is extenuated by the fact that we will be revisiting Leaning Forward, which has quite a lot of air to ground attacks in it.

So this post is to gather information on how the RAF claimed ground targets as destroyed in their AARs so that we can replicate that in our Campaign. As it currently stands ground kills are not reflected in our medal criteria, but this will soon change for the VVS and LW. So it's only right the RAF also receives some love.

As it stands in my plan, LW and VVS ground kills will be counted by "number of sorties in which ground victories are claimed and approved" (ex. $criteriaA = $sortiesWithGroundVictories > 11 means that if someone has a character with more than 11 sorties in which Ground Targets are destroyed, he will get the medal).

This is a good way to do it I think, Thaine came up with it, and it does away with all the inaccuracies that counting individual claimed ground targets would be (hangars = trucks, bombers claiming more than jabos making medals impossible or easy to get depending on which of the two the criteria is based on, bomber ground target destruction claiming inaccuracies etc.).

So please share any information you may have on ground target claims in the RAF, any medals you think are missing from our current set and any suggestions as to how these can be implemented pertaining to criteria.

Appreciated,
W

[Jammy]

RAF Long Service and Good Conduct medal. Maybe an option for fighter pilots as a nod to their ground pounding service.



War Medal 1939-1945. Awarded to all full time personnel of the armed forces wherever they were serving. The medal was granted in addition to campaign stars and the Defence Medal.

[Woop]

I think I might go ahead and add both of those to Rafael medals, as I like the idea of having a long service medal for pilot characters that have been alive a while. Would add this to be awarded retrospectively to all dismissed characters of active members too.

[Jammy]

Not RAF but medals for the VVS worth viewing:




Order of Glory 1st, 2nd and 3rd class - The Order of Glory, modelled closely upon the Tsarist Cross of St. George, was awarded to non-commissioned officers and soldiers of the armed forces, as well as junior lieutenants of the air force, for bravery in the face of the enemy. A person initially received the third degree, and would subsequently be promoted to higher degrees for further acts of bravery. These were first issued in 1943 but could be used for ground attack rewards unless a better substitute is found.

Medal Defence Stalingrad

Medal Defence Caucasus (Kuban)

[Woop]

Will be adding the last two for sure, looking at the the order of glory too yes. Thanks Jammy!

Currently the way I'm doing ground attack criteria is like I mentioned in the op. For instance the Order of the Great Patriotic War second class, is awarded after may 1942 for 1 or more confirmed air kills and 3 sorties flown, or for 2 or more sorties in which ground targets were claimed and 4 sorties flown. This would be the lowest medal, with 6 million awarded in total.

[Maltloaf]

RAF Long Service and Good Conduct medal? Or ‘the fifteen years of undiscovered crime’ medal can only be awarded to Airman and NCOs – not officers (prior to 2016) as the crimes (charges) that disqualify an airman would not be appropriate for an officer. That is to say, Officers have Good Conduct by default and if you don’t then you aren’t an officer, you certainly don’t get a fucking medal for it.

[Jammy]

This is the last medal I was able to find that could be used as a ground attack reward:



Air Efficiency Award - Instituted in 1942. It could be awarded after ten years of meritorious service to part-time officers, airmen and airwomen in the Auxiliary and Volunteer Air Forces of the United Kingdom and the Territorial Air Forces and Air Force Reserves of the Dominions, the Indian Empire, Burma, the Colonies and Protectorates.

RAF Long Service and Good Conduct medal? Or ‘the fifteen years of undiscovered crime’ medal can only be awarded to Airman and NCOs – not officers (prior to 2016) as the crimes (charges) that disqualify an airman would not be appropriate for an officer. That is to say, Officers have Good Conduct by default and if you don’t then you aren’t an officer, you certainly don’t get a fucking medal for it.

True but that would also invalidate the DFC which was only available to Officers but is issued to all ranks in ACG regardless. So far I have been unable to find actual rewards given to RAF strike fighters so I picked these until a better replacement can be found.

[Thaine]

As far as I'm aware, the DFC is only awarded to commissioned officers in ACG.

[Woop]

The following medals will be added to the RAF award system.

France and Germany Star



The France and Germany Star is a military campaign medal, instituted by the United Kingdom in May 1945 for award to British Commonwealth forces who served in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands or Germany and adjacent sea areas between 6 June 1944 and 8 May 1945, during the Second World War.

The France and Germany Star was awarded for entry into operational service in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Holland and Germany between 6 June 1944 and 8 May 1945, both dates inclusive. The qualifying sea area was south of a line from the Firth of Forth to Kristiansand (South) in the North Sea, east of longitude 6° West in the Bay of Biscay, and in the English Channel, provided such service was directly in support of land operations in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Holland or Germany.

Air crew who flew on operations against the enemy over Europe on or after 6 June 1944 qualified by one operational sortie. The qualification for flying personnel posted or employed on air transport or ferrying duties from bases in the United Kingdom was at least three landings in Europe.

Sorties flown from the Mediterranean did not qualify for the award of the France and Germany Star. Similarly, Army personnel who entered Austrian territory during the closing stages of hostilities in Europe, and Naval and Merchant Navy service afloat in the Mediterranean in support of operations in the South of France, did not qualify for this award. All these qualified for the award of the Italy Star.

No South African Army or Air Force unit served in North West Europe during the war, with the frigate HMSAS Good Hope the only South African Naval vessel whose crew qualified for the Star. Including those seconded to British units, a total of 657 South African Forces personnel received the France and Germany Star or clasp, excluding South African citizens who enlisted directly into British and other Allied armed services.

The France and Germany Star was not awarded in addition to the Atlantic Star or the Air Crew Europe Star. Personnel who qualified for the award of two or all three of these stars, were awarded only that star for which they first qualified and a clasp in respect of the first earned of the other two stars. Since the Air Crew Europe Star could not be earned for service after 5 June 1944, only the Atlantic clasp could be awarded with the France and Germany Star.

ACG: Medal is awarded to all pilots for surviving at least 2 combat sorties between 6 June 1944 and 8 May 1945.

Africa Star



The Africa Star is a military campaign medal, instituted by the United Kingdom on 8 July 1943 for award to British and Commonwealth forces who served in North Africa between 10 June 1940 and 12 May 1943 during the Second World War.

The Africa Star was awarded for a minimum of one day's service in an operational area of North Africa between 10 June 1940 and 12 May 1943. The operational area includes the whole of the area between the Suez Canal and the Strait of Gibraltar, together with Malta, Abyssinia, Kenya, the Sudan, both Somalilands and Eritrea. Areas not bordering on the Mediterranean only qualified for the Africa Star between 10 June 1940 and 27 November 1941 inclusive.

Air Force personnel had to land in or have flown over any of the operational areas. The Africa Star was also awarded to crews of transport aircraft that flew over certain specified routes.

ACG: Medal is awarded to all pilots for surviving at least 2 combat sorties between in Africa between 10 June 1940 and 12 May 1943.

War Medal 1939–1945



The War Medal 1939–1945 is a campaign medal which was instituted by the United Kingdom on 16 August 1945, for award to subjects of the British Commonwealth who had served full-time in the Armed Forces or the Merchant Navy for at least 28 days between 3 September 1939 and 2 September 1945.

ACG: Awarded for at least 28 days service during the War (between 3 September 1939 and 2 September 1945).


https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... 1313508067

[Woop]

Changes to the current medals will also be done, to include ground targets destroyed. Much like I'm designing for the VVS, it will probably take the following form:

DFM is awarded to all non-commisioned ranks for either 8 confirmed victories or 120 points scored against the enemy, whichever comes first. The points are distributed as follows: 10 for a "destroyed", 5 for a "probable" and 2 for a "damaged".
It will also be awarded to pilots destroying ground targets, i.e. after 12 sorties in which ground targets are destroyed.

A Bar to the DFM (DFM*) is awarded to all non-commisioned ranks for either 16 confirmed victories or 200 points scored. For ground attack, 22 sorties in which ground targets were destroyed must be flown.

As you can see that is why I am trying to gather info on RAF claiming routines for ground targets, as I'm not sure how the claiming itself was done. Are bombs/ordnance on target counted? Or are individual structures/vehicles destroyed counted? Is there also a probable/damaged system for ground target claiming?