History

Awarded by the Chief of Defence, this Medal is conferred upon Norwegian Armed Forces personnel, who during wartime or situations of conflict have been wounded, as well as foreign and civil personnel under Norwegian military command.

In order to be eligible to receive the award an individual must have been in need of medical treatment and there must be evidence in an existing medical journal.

Alongside physical wounds, the Medal was awarded for psychological damage caused by excessive quantities of stress beyond what an individual is anticipated to endure. This includes damage resulting from events such as being held in captivity, being held in hostage situations and being involved in suicide operations.

Wounds that do not make an individual eligible to receive this Medal include injuries that were not caused by opposing forces such as: heatstroke, fatigue, frost bite, disease, trench foot, food poisoning, explosions, air craft, car crashes, or other accidents, biological, chemical, radio active, or nuclear weapons, and injuries caused by an individual's thoughtlessness.

This Medal can only be conferred upon a recipient once. If the individual has rendered services, and has distinguished themselves again, a star shaped clasp is added to the ribbon.

The reverse of the medal is engraved with the recipients name.

The design of the Medal is very similar to the Defence Medal for Fallen in Action (See NOR178 in Medals & Decorations for more information), with the differentiation in the colour of the enamel. The enamel on the Defence Medal for Wounded in Action is composed of purple enamel whereas the Defence Medal for Fallen in action is composed of black enamel.

At it's initial institution the Medal was known as the Defence Medal for the Killed and Wounded in Service, but it was later split into two medals; the Defence Medal for Wounded in Action and the Defence Medal for Fallen in Action (See NOR178 in Medals & Decorations for more information).