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The 1939-45 Star was a campaign medal of the British Commonwealth, awarded for service in the Second World War. The medal was awarded for operational service between 3 September 1939 and 2 September 1945.

The ribbon has three vertical stripes of dark blue, red and light blue. The dark blue stripe represents the Naval Forces and the Merchant Navy, the red stripe the Armies and the light blue stripe the Air Forces. The ribbon for this medal, along with those of the other Second World War campaign stars, is reputed to have been designed by King George VI, with the three equal bands representing the equal contributions towards victory of the Royal Navy, Army, and the Royal Air Force respectively.

Part of a collection of items belonging to Cecil (Joe) Rees. Cecil (Joe) Rees was a member of the RAF and took part in several bombing raids during the Second World War. His plane was shot down in May 1943 on the way back from a raid on Wuppertal, Germany. While sheltering with a Flemish family, Cecil was captured by the Germans and sent to the prisoner of war camp, Stalag Luft 3. However he managed to escape but was recaptured by the Germans and sent back to the camp.