WAR MEDALS.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 144713, 23 June 1915, Page 5

WAR MEDALS.

SOME INTERESTING DETAILS.

In connection with the war medals to be exhibited on Thursday at the Good Templar Hull the following details are of interest;—

Waterloo, 1815.—Awarded by the Prince Regent, 1816. Obverse: Bust of the l*nacc Regent. Reverse: Figure of Victory seated, in her right hand a palm branch, in her loft an olive branch. Above, Wellington; below, Waterloo. June IS, 1815. Ribbon: Crimson with blue borders. Clasps: Nil. China, 1840-42 (First .Modal); China, 1857-GO (Second, Medal). —Awarded by Queen Victoria, 1842, 1863. Obverse: Head of Queen Victoria, diademed; Sig., Victoria Regina. Reverse*: Nava) and military trophy, with, behind, ( a palm tree, and in front a shield of the Royal Arms: above, Armis Exposcero Pacem. In exergue: China 1812 (the second medal lias no date). Ribbon: Red with yellow borders. Clasps: First modal, nil; second, six—China, Fatshan, Canton. Taku Forts. Taku Forts and Pekin.

Sutlej, 1845-46 (First Sikh War).— Awarded by Government of India, 1845. Obverse: Head of Queen Victoria, as on First China 'Medal. Reverse: Figure of Victory, standing, with, in right hand outstretched, n wreath, in left a palm branch; at her feet a trophy of captured Sikh weapons and armour. In exergue; Name and year of the first battle of the war in which recipient was engaged. Those inscriptions arc four, viz: Moodkeo, 1845; Feroz-es-huhur, 1845; Aliwnl,. 1846; Sobraon, 1846. Ribbon: Blue with crimson borders. Clasps: Feroz-es-huhur, Aljwal, Sobraon. ' New Zealand Medal, 1845-47, 1860-66. —Awarded by Queen Victoria, 1869. Obverse: Bust of Queen Victoria as on Abyssinia Medal, but larger; legend, Victoria, D:G : Britt. Reg. F.D. Reverse; Dated, within a wreath of laurel, according to the period in which the recipient serv&i. Above, New Zealand; below, Virtutis Honor. Ribbon :• Blue, with a broad red stripe down centre. Clasps: Nil. Crimea, 1854-56.—Awarded by Queen Victoria in 1854. Obverse: Hoad of Queen Victoria; below, 1854. Reverse: Victory, crowning a Roman soldier, who holds a sword in his right hand and bears on his left arm a shield, on which is the figure, of a lion; on the loft, Crimea. Ribbon: Light blue, with narrow yellow borders. Clasps: Alma, Balaklava, Inkcrman, Sebastopol, Azoft. The grant was limited to all troops landing in the Crimea up to September,, 9, 1855, the day on which Sebastopol fell, “unless they shall have been engaged after that date in some expedition or operation against tho enemy.” This latter proviso applied in tho main to the naval clasp “Azoff,” the period for which award was extended to November 22. Tho clasps for this modal are very ornamental, being in the shape of oak leaves, ornamented with acorns.

Turkish Crimea Medal. —Awarded by the Sultan, 1856. Obverse: A trophy, composed of a field piece, a mortar and an anchor, the field piece standing on the Russian Imperial Standard and having a map of tho Crimea spread over the wheel and breech; behind arc tha Turkish, British, French and Sardinian flags. Reverse: The Sultan's cypher; below, in Turkish, “Crimea and tho year of tho Hegira, 1271.” Ribbon; Crimson watered, with bright green edges. Clasps; Nil. This medal was distributed to all tho allied forces, both naval and military, which shared in the operations in the Black Sea and tho Crimea.

Victoria Cross. —Instituted by Royal Warrant, January 29. 1856. A bronze Maltese Cross, with, in the centre, the Royal Crest (lion and crown), and below it a scroll, inscribed “For Valour.” There is a bronze laureated bar for suspension, connected with the cross by a V. The reverse is plain, but the name, rank and corps of the recipient are engraved on the hack of the laureated bar. Ribbon: Red for tho Army, blue for the Navy. Clasp: For every additional act of bravery, a Hasp, bearing the date of such act, may be awarded. Nothing save “the merit of conspicuous bravery” gives claim for the decoration, and it niiist he evinced by “some signal act of valour or devotion to thoir country performed in tho presence of tho enemy.”

Baltic, 1854-55.—Awarded by Queen Victoria, 1856. Obverse; Head of Queen Victoria, ns in First China Medal. Reverse; Britannia seated and holding a trident in her right hand; in tho background, forts; above, Baltic; in exergue, 1854-55. Ribbon: yellow, with pale blue borders. Clasps: Nil. This award was granted “to tho ofiicers and err-us of her Majesty’s ships, as well as to such officers and men of her Majesty’s Army as'were employed in the operations in the Baltic in the years 1854 and 1855.”

Indian, Mutiny Medal, 1857-58. Awarded by the Government of India, 1858. Obverse: Head of Queen Victoria. Reverse: Britannia standing facing left, with a lion on her right side, her right arm is extended holding out a wreath, and on her left arm is the Union shield, and in her left hand a wreath; above, India. Ribbon: White, with two red stripes. Clasps; Delhi, Defence of Lucknow, Relief of Lucknow. Lucknow, Central India. This is the last medal given by the Honourable East India Company. New Zealand Cross.—lnstituted by an older of tho Governor of Now Zealand in Council, March 10, 1869. Silver Maltese Cross, with gold star on each of the four limbs and in tho centre; in a circle, within a gold laurel wreath, New Zealand. Above the Cross a crown in gold, and connected at the top by a V to a silver bar, ornamented with lame! in gold. Tho name of recipient is engraved on reverse. Ribbon: Crimson. Clasps; Authorised for subsequent acts of valour. ' Tho award was to bo for those who ‘may particularly distinguish themselves by thoir bravery in action or devotion to their duty while on service. ■ In all only nineteen of these decorations were awarded. No clasps wore awarded. Afghanistan, 1878-80 (Second Afghan). —Awarded by Queen Victoria, 1880. Obverse: Bust of Queen Victoria crowned and with veil, by J. E. Boehm. This is tho first war medal bearing tho Imperial title. Legend : Victoria Regina ot Imperatrix. Reverse: A column of troops emerging from a mountain pass, headed by a heavy battery elephant carrying a gun; behind, mounted troops. Above, Afghanistan. In exergno, 1878-79-80. Ribbon: Green, with crimson borders. Clasps; Ali Mnsjid, Pciwar Kotnl, Charasia Kabul, Ahmed Klicl, Kandahar. Egypt, 1882-1889. —Awarded by Queen Victoria, 1882. Obverse: Heed of Queen Victoria. Legend: Victoria Regina ot Imperatrix. Rov-oreo; A Sphinx; above, Egypt; below, 1882. Ribbon: Blue, with two white-stripes. Clasps; Thirteen. Egypt Bronze Star, 1882-93.—Award-ed by the Khedive, 1883. This decoration is in the shape'of a five-pointed star, connected by a small star arncl crescent to a lamented bar, to which

the ribbon is attached. Obverse: A front view of the Sphinx, with the desert and pyramids in the rear. Around a double band, upon which arc, above, Egypt, 1882, and below, in Arabic, Khedive of Egypt, 1299 (the Hegira date). Reverse: A large raised circle, inside which is the Khcdivial monogram, T.M. (Tewlik Mahomed), surmounted by a Crown, and Crescent, and Star. Ribbon: Dark blue. Clasps: Xokar. 1890.

India, 1895. —Awarded by Queen Victoria in 1896. Obverse: Bust of Queen Victoria. Reverse: A British and Indian soldier supporting a standard; below. India, 1895. Ribbon: Three red and two green stripes of equal width. Clasps; Defence of Chitral, 1895; Relief of Chitral, 1895; Malakand, 1898; Punjab ■■. Frontier, 1898; Tiiah. 1897; Tiraii, 1898! Waziristan, 1901-02.

“Queen's” South African, 1899-1902. —Awarded by King Edward V£l. in 1901. shortly after Queen Victoria’s death. Obverse: Bust of Queen Victoria. Reverse: Britannia holding an outstretched laurel wreath towards a body of troops; in the background, a coastline, the sea and warships. Ribbon: Centre orange, bordered with blue. outside edges red. This medal was given “to all officers, warrant officers, non-commissioned officers and men of the British. Indian and Colonial forces, and to all nurses and nursing sisters who actually served ih South Africa between October 11, 1899, and a date to be fixed hereafter (the war not being concluded), to all troops stationed in Cape Colony and Natal the outbreak of hostilities, and to troops, stationed at St. Helena between April 14, 1900> and a date to be fixed hereafter.” The “King’s” South African Medal. —Tliis was awarded by King Edward VII. in 1902 to be worn in addition to the “Queen’s” by those who completed eighteen months’ service in South Africa during the war. On the obverse of the modal is the effigy of King Edward; the reverse is the same as that of the

“Queen’s” Medal. The two clasps awarded were: South Africa 1901, and, South Africa 1902.