Instituted on 20 October 1947, this bronze medal was awarded to all those that had been taken POW by the Axis forces.

Thin round bronze bars are slipped on the ribbon to denote the length of the recipients captivity.

The obverse shows a cross within a circle of barbed wire. On the horizontal cross arms are the years "1940" and "1945", while the vertical cross arms are mostly covered by a large sword, point downward.