Name/Title
Mounted set of West Sussex Constabulary medals awarded to Inspector Leslie Rush 1945 - 1959Entry/Object ID
395Description
Mounted set of medals comprising of: a British Empire Medal; a 1939 -1945 Defence Meda;a 1939 - 1945 War Medal; a 1953 Coronation Medal and a George VI Police Long Service and Good medal. The B.E.M. is stamped along the edge Leslie Herbert Hayward Rush" and the Police Long Service Medal is stamped around the edge "Inspr. Leonard H.H. Rush".Use
To be worn by recipient on special occasionsContext
This set of medals were awarded to Leslie Rush, who joined West Sussex Constabulary in 1928 and retired as an Inspector in 1960. The museum also has a collection of letters and newspaper clippings associated with him being given the B.E.M. (items 292 - 299).
Inspector Rush was awarded the B.E.M. in the New Year's Honours list in 1959, in recognition of his work co-ordinating Civil Defence in West Sussex both during and after the war, especially in the 1950s. The Defence Medal would have been for police service during the Second World War, and was mainly awarded to civilians or those in the civilian services. The 1939 - 1945 War Medal was awarded to members of the military, suggesting Mr Rush served some time in one of the services during the war, though this is not mentioned in any of the paperwork associated with him that the museum has.The Long Service Medal was first instituted in 1951 and initially awarded for 22 year's service but from 2010 is awarded for 20 year's service. The Coronation Medal was awarded after nomination to over 129,000 individuals from many walks of life including some police officers, in order to celebrate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. There would have been an allowance of the Coronation Medal for every police force and recipients were normally senior officers and other ranks with the most service.