Members of the First New Zealand Expeditionary Force qualified for up to three medals, the 1914–15 Star being awarded for service in a theatre of operations prior to the end of 1915, the British War Medal, 1914–20, for mobilised service, and the Victory Medal, 1919, for service in a theatre of military operations. Members of the Main Body, First New Zealand Expeditionary Force, received all three medals and, as large numbers were involved, they nicknamed these medals, “Pip, Squeak, and Wilfred” after three animal characters which appeared in a strip cartoon published in a popular English daily paper at that time.
Co-creator
Capt. Geoffrey Troughear Stagg, F.R.N.S.N.Z., R.N.Z.A. (retired), formerly President of the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand, Wellington.