Awarded unnamed to all full time personnel of the Armed Forces wherever they served, provided they had served for twenty eight days, irrespective of that service being operational or non-operational. The period covered was from 3/9/1939 to 2/9/1945 and the medal was issued in addition to the campaign stars and the Defence Medal.
The obverse has an effigy of King George VI and on the reverse is a triumphant lion trampling on a dragon symbolising the Axis powers.
The ribbon has a narrow red stripe in the centre flanked, on either side, by a narrow white stripe, a wide blue stripe and a wide red stripe.