Commemorative Medals for Army Marches

MESA commemorative medal

The Commemorative Medals for Army Marches are two distinct medals awarded for participating in the two marches organised yearly by the Belgian Army. They are not decorations, but they may be worn by members of the Belgian Armed Forces on their uniform during the year following the participation if they request it. For members of the Belgian Army, participating in the marches counts as operational training.

Marche Européenne du Souvenir et de l'Amitié (MESA)

The European March of Remembrance and Friendship is a four-day international march originally organised in 1967 by the 3rd Battalion of the Ardennes Chasseur Regiment in remembrance of the operations performed by the unit at the beginning of World War II in the Ardennes region. The march is now organised on a yearly basis and also focusses on honouring the towns in the region regularly changing its course to do so. The march is divided into four legs of thirty-two kilometers each in the Ardennes region of Belgium as well as the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg.

The circular silver medal bears on its obverse the relief left profile of a wild boar's head surrounded by a 3mm wide ring along the entire medal's circumference and bearing the relief inscription "3 CHASSEURS ARDENNAIS" in the upper half and "125 km" at the bottom. The reverse bears the relief inscription on four lines "MARCHE" "DU SOUVENIR" "ET DE L'AMITIE" "ARLON-VIELSALM". The medal hangs from a ribbon secured by a hook through a suspension loop at its top. The medal is secured to clothing with a safety pin backed metal clasp displaying in relief the year of the event, or in the case of older medals, the inscription M.S.A. or M.S.E.A.. The ribbon is dark green with the national colours of Belgium in three narrow 1mm edge stripes and two narrow 1mm wide red stripes centered 1 cm apart on the green field.

Vier Dagen van de Ijser

Four Days of the Yser medal with 1990 bar

The Four Days of the Yser is a four-day international march organised since 1967 by the Order of the Horse Fishermen of Oostduinkerke, in order to honour the tradition of shrimping on horseback on the one hand and to emphasize the scenic attractions of the Westhoek, the western part of the Belgian coast. Since 1972 it is organised by the Belgian Armed Forces to strengthen the bond between the Belgian Armed Forces and society, to commemorate the casualties of both World Wars, particularly those who fell on the battlefields of the Westhoek during the First World War, and to introduce the hikers to the historical and touristic values of the Westhoek. The march is in four times thirty-two kilometers long.

The medal is round or triangular, made in silver or bronze, and showing the imprint of a World War I Belgian soldier, but the shape of the medal can change every five years. The ribbon is dark blue with a large vertical scarlet stripe. Small metal bars are added to the ribbon when the bearer has completed the march more than one time.

See also

• List of Orders, Decorations and Medals of the Kingdom of Belgium

External links

• Marche Européenne du Souvenir et de l'Amitié
• Vier Dagen van de Ijser

Orders, decorations, and medals of Belgium
Current orders	Order of Leopold Order of the Crown Order of Leopold II
Formerly awarded orders (dormant)	Order of the African Star Royal Order of the Lion
Pre 1914 war medals and decorations	Civic Guard Merit Medal 1830 Star of Honour Iron Cross 1830 Volunteers' Commemorative Cross 1870–71 Commemorative Medal
1914–1918 war medals and decorations	Croix de guerre 1914–18 Fire Cross 1914–1918 Yser Medal Yser Cross Volunteer Combatant's Medal 1914–1918 1914–1918 Commemorative War Medal 1914–1917 African Campaigns Commemorative Medal Liège Medal Maritime Decoration 1914–1918 Political Prisoner's Medal 1914–1918 Deportees' Cross 1914–1918 1914–1918 Medal for National Restoration King Albert Medal Queen Elisabeth Medal Inter-Allied Victory Medal 1914–1918 Civic Decoration 1914–1918 Commemorative Medal of the National Committee for Aid and Food
1940–1945 war medals and decorations	Croix de guerre 1940–45 Maritime Medal 1940–1945 1940–1945 Military Combatant's Medal Volunteer's Medal 1940–1945 1940–1945 African War Medal 1940–1945 Colonial War Effort Medal Abyssinian Campaigns Commemorative Medal Resistance Medal 1940–1945 Civilian Resistance Medal Civilian Disobedience Medal Political Prisoner's Cross 1940–1945 Prisoner of War Medal 1940–1945 Escapees' Cross 1940–1945 Medal for Resistance against Nazism in the Annexed Territories Medal of the Recruiting Centers 1940 Medal of Belgian Gratitude 1940–1945 Commemorative Medal of the War 1940–1945 Civic Decoration 1940–1945
Post 1945 war medals and decorations	Foreign Operational Theatres Commemorative Medal War Volunteer's Medal
Current military awards	Military Cross Military Decoration Croix de guerre (post-1954) Cross of Honour for Military Service Abroad Commemorative Medal for Armed Humanitarian Operations Medal for Services Rendered Commemorative Medal for Foreign Operations or Missions Medal for Military Merit Commemorative Medal for the "European March of Memory and Friendship" "Four Days of the Yser" Commemorative Medal
Current civilian awards	Civic Decoration Honour Badge of Labour Labour Decoration Decoration for Mutuality
Commemorative medals	Commemorative Decoration of the 50th Anniversary of the Creation of the Railroads Commemorative Medal of the Reign of King Leopold II Commemorative Medal for the 75th Anniversary of the Belgian Postal Service Centenary of National Independence Commemorative Medal Commemorative Medal for the Centenary of the Telegraphic Service Commemorative Medal for the 100th Anniversary of the Belgian Postal Service Commemorative Medal of the Reign of King Albert I
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