To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces of a nation whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of the enemy is described.
In some countries, a service member's name must be mentioned in dispatches as a condition for receiving certain decorations.
Being mentioned in dispatches entitles a recipient to wear a small metallic device, but does not include an entitlement to post-nominals.
United Kingdom, British Empire and Commonwealth of Nations
United Kingdom
thumb|160px|right|A [[Victory Medal (United Kingdom)|Victory Medal 1914–18 with a Mention in Dispatches device]]
Servicemen and women of the United Kingdom or the Commonwealth who are mentioned in dispatches are not awarded a medal for their actions, but receive a certificate and wear an oak leaf device on the ribbon of the appropriate campaign medal. A smaller version of the oak leaf device is attached to the ribbon when worn alone. In the British Armed Forces, the despatch is published in the London Gazette. Those who did not receive the Victory Medal wore the device on the British War Medal. Established in 1919, it was retroactive to August 1914. An example of the frequency of being mentioned in dispatches is twenty-five out of 1,000 members of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment were so honoured in the First World War. In all, 141,082 mentions were recorded in the London Gazette between 1914 and 1920. The Canadian Armed Forces still use the bronze oak leaf device.
Since 1993 changes have been made in respect of the United Kingdom armed forces:
For awards made from September 1993, the oak leaf has been in silver. The criteria were also made more specific, it now being defined as an operational gallantry award for acts of bravery during active operations.
From 2003, in addition to British campaign medals, the device can be worn on United Nations, NATO and EU medals.
thumb|right|Formal notice of a soldier in the [[Motor Machine Gun Service mentioned in dispatches, by Field Marshal Sir John French for gallantry at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, signed by Secretary of State for War Winston Churchill.]]
Prior to 1979, a mention in dispatches was one of three awards that could be made posthumously, the others being the Victoria Cross and George Cross. The 1979 reform allowed all gallantry decorations to be awarded posthumously.
Examples of soldiers who were mentioned with unusual frequency include the British First World War Victoria Cross recipient John Vereker, later Field Marshal Viscount Gort, a total of nine times, as was the Canadian general Sir Arthur Currie. The Australian general Gordon Bennett was mentioned in dispatches a total of eight times during the First World War, as was Field Marshal Sir John Dill.
Below are illustrations of the device being worn on a variety of campaign medal ribbons:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|80px || Victory Medal || First World War
|-
|80px || Naval General Service Medal || Campaign Service<br>(1920–1962)
|-
|80px || Army & RAF<br>General Service Medal || Campaign Service<br>(1920–1962)
|-
|80px || War Medal 1939–1945 || Second World War
|-
|80px || Korea Medal || Korean War
|-
|80px || General Service Medal || Campaign Service<br>(1962–1993)
|-
|80px || Vietnam Medal || Vietnam War
|-
|80px || Gulf Medal || Gulf War
|-
|align=center|60px || Silver oak leaf device || Awards since 1993
|}
Australia
Australian service personnel are no longer eligible to be mentioned in dispatches. Since 15 January 1991, when the Australian Honours System was established, the MiD has been replaced by the Australian decorations: the Commendation for Gallantry and the Commendation for Distinguished Service. Similarly, the equivalents of the MiD for acts of bravery by civilians and by soldiers not engaged with the enemy have also been reformed. The reformed and comprehensive system is now as follows:
- The Commendation for Gallantry is now the fourth level decoration for gallantry.
- The Commendation for Brave Conduct recognises acts of bravery carried out by soldiers not directly fighting the enemy and by civilians in war or peace.
- The Commendation for Distinguished Service, a third level distinguished service decoration, recognises distinguished general service, for exemplary performance in fields such as training, maintenance and administration.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|80px || Commendation for Gallantry
|-
|80px || Commendation for Brave Conduct
|-
|80px || Commendation for Distinguished Service
|}
Canada
A mention in dispatches – in French, – gives recognition from a senior commander for acts of brave or meritorious service, normally in the field. The mention in dispatches is among the list of awards presented by the governor general of Canada.
Recipients receive a bronze oak leaf insignia, worn on the ribbon of the relevant mission medal. Historically, MID was awarded during both World Wars and the Korean War, later reintroduced in 1990. , 283 MIDs had been awarded, each accompanied by a citation certificate.
Master Corporal Graham Ragsdale's performance during Operation Anaconda in southeastern Afghanistan was mentioned in dispatches.
India
Mention in dispatches has been used since 1947 to recognize distinguished and meritorious service in operational areas and acts of gallantry which are not of a sufficiently high order to warrant the grant of gallantry awards.
Eligible personnel include all Army, Navy and Air Force personnel including personnel of the Reserve Forces, Territorial Army, Militia and other lawfully constituted armed forces, members of the Nursing Service and civilians working under or with the armed forces.
150px|thumb|The [[Imtiazi Sanad of the Pakistan Armed Forces]]
South Africa
In 1920 the Minister of Defence of the Union of South Africa was empowered to award a multiple-leaved bronze oak leaf emblem to all servicemen and servicewomen mentioned in dispatches during the First World War for valuable services in action. The emblem, which was regarded as a decoration, was worn on the ribbon of the Victory Medal (Union of South Africa). Only one emblem was worn, irrespective of the number of times a recipient had been mentioned.
The Afrikaans rendition of mentioned in dispatches is .
In 1943, the Union Defence Force confirmed the availability of the British award, the bronze oak leaf, for acts of bravery, in contact with the enemy, which fell just short of the standard required for the granting of a decoration, or for valuable services not necessarily in immediate contact with the enemy.
The mention in dispatches (MiD) was one of only four awards which could be made posthumously. The others were the Victoria Cross, the George Cross, and the King's Commendation (South Africa). The oak leaf emblem was worn on the ribbon of the War Medal 1939–1945.
The King's Commendation (South Africa) (1939–45) was denoted by a bronze King Protea flower emblem worn on the ribbon of the Africa Service Medal, for valuable services in connection with the Second World War. It could be awarded posthumously and was the equivalent of a mention in dispatches for services rendered away from the battlefield.