Service Bars - What Were They

[Andy873]

I came across a newspaper article from the 1950's of a railway man retiring. In it, it describes he has service bars for 20 and 28 years, to me, they look like awards for long service on the railways.

But what exactly were service bars? did you wear them? what does one of these bars look like? etc... I'm curious about this as I have never heard the term before.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

If they were similar to the ones sometimes awarded to long-serving members of the Police or the Fire Brigade, likely they were rectangular, metallic, pieces of metal, stating "LONG SERVICE, 40 YEARS" or similar. They're differently shaped than most medals.

 

[pdeaves]

This is a new example currently available for sale from a medal retailer aimed at police/fire service. Railway ones would have been similar.

 

[The exile]

The analogy is presumably with military medals where “and bar” indicates you’ve been awarded the same medal twice. Suggests that at some time there were full-blown long service medals (for 25 and 50 years, maybe) and that intermediate milestones were marked by a bar for the ribbon.

 

[ThirteenArches]

You live and learn. I would have thought service bars were a sort of railborne NAAFI.

 

[driver9000]

You live and learn. I would have thought service bars were a sort of railborne NAAFI.

The railway equivalent of the NAAFI was the BRSA.

 

[contrex]

The railway equivalent of the NAAFI was the BRSA.

When I worked for TV Licensing in the early 2000s our union (CWU) had use of the BRSA facilities at Bristol Temple Meads. Amazingly dingy and fusty decor, but the bar was cheap. I believe it's now demolished.