Merchant Navy personnel qualified upon completion of 180 days of service with at least one voyage made through an operational area. Special criteria The award of a gallantry medal or Mention in Dispatches qualified the recipient for the award of the 1939–1945 Star, regardless of service duration. Personnel whose qualifying service period was terminated prematurely by their death or disability due to service were awarded this Star. In addition, some special criteria applied when, at certain specified times, just one day's service was required. These latter instances were actions for which a more specific campaign medal was not awarded and the regulations for award made provision for a number of operations in Europe, the Middle East, the Pacific Theatre and India and Burma, in which entry into operational service for one day or part thereof qualified personnel for the award of the 1939–1945 Star. Some notable examples are: The Battle of France in France or Belgium from 10 May to 19 June 1940. The St Nazaire Raid from 22 to 28 March 1942. The Dieppe Raid on 19 August 1942. The Anglo-Iraqi War in Iraq from 10 April to 25 May 1941. The Japanese conquest of Burma from 22 February 1942 to 15 May 1942. The Battle of Madagascar to capture Vichy French-controlled Madagascar from 5 May 1942 to 5 November 1942. In the case of personnel in operational service at the end of active hostilities in Europe on 8 May 1945, the actual operational service requirement period for the award of the Atlantic Star, Air Crew Europe Star, Italy Star and France and Germany Star was reduced to entry into a theatre of operations and the prior six or two months service requirements did not apply. The 1939–1945 Star, however, was not awarded in any of these cases in which actual operational service amounted to less than six or two months. Description The set of nine campaign stars was designed by the Royal Mint engravers. The stars all have a ring suspender which passes through an eyelet formed above the uppermost point of the star. They are six–pointed stars, struck in yellow copper zinc alloy to fit into a 44 millimetres diameter circle, with a maximum width of 38 millimetres and 50 millimetres high from the bottom point of the star to the top of the eyelet. Obverse The obverse has a central design of the Royal Cypher "GRI