Description
Naval General Service Medal, EIIR, bar Near East, L/FX 915893 R.W. Burn, Naval Airman, Royal Navy.
Officially impressed: “L/FX 915893 R.W. Burn N.A. R.N.”
The rank of “N.A.” stands for Naval Airman, a general rank for members of the Fleet Air Arm.
This clasp was awarded for the 1956 Suez Crisis.
During that time Helicopters were a relatively new invention and were being implemented by the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm to be used in service.
During the Suez Crisis, the Fleet Air Arm saw the very first deployment of helicopter in wartime, by using them to land Royal Marine Commando Forces into Egypt, this had never been done before in combat.
As well as using Helicopters, the FAA would deploy 6 Hawker Sea Hawk Squadrons, 2 aboard the Aircraft Carrier HMS Eagle and 2 each aboard the light fleet carriers HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark.
