The Medal of the Recruiting Centers 1940

• Time Period: Second World War
• Institution: 12 April 1990
• Country: Belgium

The Medal of the Recruiting Centers 1940 (Médaille des Centres de Recrutement 1940 / Medaille van de Recruteringscentra van het Belgisch Leger 1940) is a decoration of the Kingdom of Belgium created by royal decree on April 12, 1990.

The award was granted to any man between the ages of sixteen and thirty-five who responded to the order, given in May 1940 by the Government, to join the recruiting centers of the Belgian army in France from May 10, 1940 and whose period of absence from their home must count at least 10 days and have taken place before September 10, 1940.

The medal exists in three versions according to the linguistic affiliation of the beneficiary: With the inscription in relief “CRAB” for French speakers, “RCBL” for Dutch speakers and “RZBH” for German speakers.

The Medal of the Recruiting Centers 1940 Design

The medal measures 37 millimeters in diameter and is struck in patinated bronze.

The obverse bears the inscription “CRAB” and “AD HONOREM PATRIAE” in relief and the reverse the year “1940” in relief. The medal is suspended by a ring passing laterally in a suspension barrel at the top of the medal, to a white silk ribbon with a width of 38 mm, in its center horizontally 3 bands of 2 mm, red, yellow and black symbolizing the Belgian flag.