War Medals Mr. McNamara asked the Secretary of State for Defence what is the current delay between application for, and award of, 1939 to 1945 war medals. Mr. Freeman The celebration of world war 2 anniversaries in 1984 and 1985 resulted in greatly increased public interest in claiming world war 2 campaign medals. Currently the period between application and award of medals normally varies between 12 and 16 months.