Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Royal Air Force – in the House of Commons at on 14 October 1942.
Mr Harold Balfour
, Isle of Thanet
No, Sir. If the Government were once to start on the slippery slope of allowing the holders of medals not awarded for gallantry to use initials after their names the practice would become so common as to be scarcely worth any distinction at all. There is the Royal Naval Auxiliary Sick Berth Reserves Long Service and Good Conduct Medal, and there is the Board of Trade Rocket Apparatus Volunteer Long Service Medal. For these the appropriate initials would be R.N.A.S., S.B., L.S. and G.C.M. and B.T.R.A.L.S.M., and I think the hon. Member would see that for holders of these medals to have these long strings of initials after their names would not be really very suitable.