THE FIRST WAR MEDAL.
Probably the first medal conferred in England fur services in the field was one authorised to be issued by Charles I. in 1643, to suoh soldiers as might distinguish themselves in "forlorn hjpes." It was to be made of silver, and was to be worn on the breast of every man who should be certified by the commanders in-chief to have done faithful eervioe in the forlorn hope/ It was, in fact, the Victoria Cross of that time, the commanders and wardens of the Mint being required to keep a register of the name of those upon whom the deooration was conferred. In June, 1643, Charles 1. ordered a gold medal to be struck for Robert Welch, an Irish gentleman, who, at the battle of Edgehiil, recovered the standard of the King'<* Own Regiment, which had been taken by the Parliamentary forces, and who also captured two pieces of cannon, for which services he had been previously knighted. This war medal, which bore the effigies of the King and Prince Charles, with the inscription, "Per Regale Mandatum Caroli Regis boo. assignatur .Roberto Welch, Militi," seems to have been the first which was worn as a personal decoration.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WAG19060503.2.11
Bibliographic details
Wairarapa Age, Volume XXVIX, Issue 8130, 3 May 1906, Page 3
Word Count
201THE FIRST WAR MEDAL. Wairarapa Age, Volume XXVIX, Issue 8130, 3 May 1906, Page 3
Using This Item
National Media Ltd is the copyright owner for the Wairarapa Age. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of National Media Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Log in