Defence Medal 1939-45 awarded to Colonel John Anthony Stafford Fearfield, Royal Signals, attached to Force 136, Special Operations Executive

Circular campaign medal with, on the obverse (designed by Thomas Humphrey Paget), the head of King George VI and the inscription, 'GEORGIVS VI D:G:BR:OMN:REX F:D:IND:IMP.'. On the reverse (designed by Harold Parker), the Royal Crown on an oak sapling, with lion and lioness supporters flanked by the dates, '1939' and '1945', above stylised waves and the medal name, 'The Defence Medal', within the exergue. The green ribbon has a central band of orange and two thin black stripes.

Fearfield served with Force 136 of the Special Operations Executive, during 1942-1945. Force 136 operated in Asia against the Japanese. Commanded by British officers, it recruited indigenous people in Burma, Malaya, China and Thailand to assist in sabotage and intelligence gathering.

Struck in cupro-nickel or silver, the Defence Medal 1939-45 was instituted in May 1945 and was more widely distributed than the 1939-45 Star. Its recipients included personnel who had served for at least three years in Britain during World War Two (1939-1945). The medal was awarded to non-operational service personnel and for certain civilian services, such as Civil Defence. Commonwealth and Colonial personnel in some services, deployed away from their homes, were also eligible. The ribbon colours are symbolic: the green refers to the green and pleasant land of England, the black stripes represent the blackout and the orange stripe represents the fire bombing of the Blitz.

From medal group including, Order of the British Empire, 1939-45 Star, Burma Star 1941-45, British War Medal 1939-45, General Service Medal 1918-62 and United Nations Korea Medal 1950-1954.