§ Mr. Nigel JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many medals have been awarded for service in the Suez Canal Zone 1951–54: how many are still to be awarded to(a) Army, (b) Royal Navy and (c) Royal Air Force personnel; and what the timescale is for completing the presentation of outstanding awards. [153786]
§ Mr. CaplinBy the week ending 6 February 2004 a total of 3,901 Canal Zone clasps, either together with the Naval General Service Medal 1915–62 and General Service Medal 1918–62, as appropriate, or alone where the recipient had already received the medal for other campaign service, had been issued by the Ministry of Defence's four single Service medal offices.
It is not possible to say how many medals will be awarded for service in the Canal Zone between 1951–54 as it will depend entirely upon the number of valid claims that are received from veterans and their families in the coming months. However, such has been the success of our efforts to advertise the availability of the new clasp that nearly 33,000 applications have now been received.
§ Mr. WyattTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish the timetable for the awards to be made to those qualifying for a Suez Medal. [154751]
§ Mr. CaplinThere is no timetable for the award of the medal for service in the Suez Canal Zone.