Italy Star 1939-1945:

Awarded for service between 11th June 1943 and 8th May 1945, in the Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea. Operations in and around the Dodecanese, Corsica, Greece, Sardinia and Yugoslavia after 11 June 1943 would also qualify. Generally the qualifying service period for the Italy Star could only begin after the 1939-1945 Star had been earned by 6 months' service.

The Italy Star is a six–pointed star of yellow copper zinc alloy, with a height of 44mm and a maximum width of 38mm. The obverse has a central design of the Royal Cipher of King George VI, surmounted by a crown. The cipher is surrounded by a circlet containing the words ‘The Italy Star'. The reverse is plain, although Stars issued to Australian and South African personnel have recipient names engraved.

The ribbon for this medal, along with those of the other Second World War campaign stars, is reputed to have been designed by King George VI. Equal width stripes of red, white, green, white and red represent the colours of the House of Savoy, Italy's royal family. There were no clasps awarded with the Italy Star. The Italy Star is valued at between £12 to £15. The Italy Star shown here is from my collection of medals.

The table below shows the qualifying dates required for service in other areas.
Area Dates
Sicily
between 11th June 1943 - 17th August 1943
Sardinia between 11th June 1943 - 19th September 1943
Corsica between 11th June 1943 - 4th October 1943
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