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Description: | The Crimea Medal is a British campaign medal awarded to troops who served for Britain during the Crimean War (1853-1856). The Crimean War to stop curtail the expansion of the Russian empire into Europe was fought between the allied forces of the Ottoman Empire, France, the Kingdom of Sardinia and Great Britain against the Russian Empire. This medal could also be awarded to certain members of allied French forces. The medal is highly ornate silver coloured medal, 36mm in diameter. One face depicts the profile of Queen Victoria, with the words "VICTORIA REGINA" around the outer edges. The date 1854 is printed below the profile. The other face of the medal depicts a Roman soldier standing and being crowned with a laurel wreath by the figure of winged Victory, a common theme on many British medals. Winged victory wears a classical toga with one breast exposed and carriers in her other hand a palm leaf. She wears a laurel wreath of her own. The solider is notable for his classical roman battledress and is armed with a short sword and shield depicting a lion. To the left of the figures is the word "CRIMEA" and in the lower right edge is the maker's mark which reads "B. WYON SC.". The ribbon is light blue edged with yellow. This medal features three highly ornate bars to commemorate the battles its owner fought in; a maximum of five bars was available when the medal was issued, though only one soldier achieved as high as four. This medal belonged to a veteran of three battles; the bars read "SEBASTOPOL", "INKERMANN" and "ALMA". The Sebastopol bar commemorates the Siege of Sebastopol (also known as Sevastopol) and was a siege by Allied forces from September 1854 until September 1855. This year-long battle was a fight to cross the 35 miles to Sevastopol, the capital of Crimea. During this time, approximately 102,000 men form the Russian Army died, while Allied casualties totalled 128,387. Sebastopol was pivotal to the Crimean War, as it was the home of the Russian Tsar's Black Sea Fleet. The Inkermann bar commemorates the battle of Inkerman on 5th November 1854. The battle had extremely foggy conditions that required soldiers to act with greater independence than was usual and earned this battle the name "The Soldier's Battle". This battle was instrumental in breaking the will of the Russian army and was an important Victory for the British and French allied forces. This battle totalled 10,216 men killed and wounded for the Russian army and 4676 from Allied forces. The Alma bar commemorates the battle of Alma River on the 20th September 1854, which is generally considered the first proper battle of the Crimean War. This was an Allied Victory which resulted in losses for the Russian army of 5,709 and for the allies of 3,342. Each bar is highly decorative, much more so than many other subsequent British medals. Each bar consists of an English Oak leaf embossed with the name of the battle and edged with ornate acorns.
Military medal No 2255 awarded to Jos Smith, 44th Regiment , for the service in the Crimean War: Sebastopol, Inkermann, Alma, 1854. | License: | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/uk/ | Publisher: | Wolverhampton Arts and Museums Service | Rights holder: | Wolverhampton Arts and Museums Service | Subjects: | Miscellaneous Historical Objects Victorian period Military medals | Temporal: | 1846 - 1919
Victorian (1837-1901) | Source: | Black Country History | Identifier: | http://www.blackcountryhistory.org/colle... | Go to resource |
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