|
Date: |
|
Description: | BRONZE
obverse design : soldier, British cavalryman, on horseback, facing right, leaning forward to exchange the flag of 11th
Corps for a palm branch and flag bearing a fleur de lys offered by a woman, personifying the city of Lille, who stands facing
him
obverse text : "LILLE.DÉLIVRÉE.PAR.LES.ANGLAIS.17. OCTOBRE.1918" & "ÉCHANGE.DES.DRAPEAUX"
reverse design : Hôtel de ville and main square of Lille, view of, positioned above seven lines of text. At centre base of design a shield
bearing a fleur de lys, enclosed by an ornate collar of an Order of Chivalry. Below the shield a badge of the Order of the Legion of
Honour, a Croix de Guerre and one other French decoration
reverse text : "THIS FLAG WAS CARRIED BY THE GENERAL COMMANDING THE 5th BRITISH ARMY DURING THE OPERATION WHICH LED TO THE DELIVRANCE OF
LILLE PRESENTED TO THE CITY BY GENERAL SIR W.R.BIRDWOOD K.C.B. - K.C.S.I. K.C.M.G. - D.S.O" & "INSCRIPTION GRAVÉE SUR LA HAMPE DU FANION
DONNÉ A LA VILLE"
prefixed by small leaf-shaped mark
French First World War medal by Henry Dropsy (1885-1969) commemorating the Allied offensives on the Western Front in
late 1918 and specifically the liberation of Lille and formal occupation by forces of the British Fifth Army in October 1918. The obverse
text is translated as 'Lille, delivered by the English, 17 October 1918. Exchange of flags'. The French text on the reverse is translated
as 'Inscription on the staff of the flag given to the town'. Lille was first entered by a party of the Liverpool Regiment on 17 October
1918. Note that Dropsy's medal makes reference to the action of Lieutenant-General Sir R C B Haking, 11th Army Corps, who despatched his
Corps' flag to Paris, to be placed on the Lille statue in the Place de la Concorde. Haking entered Lille on the evening of 17 October. The
formal entry of the British Army of deliverance took place on 28 October 1918. | Publisher: | http://www.iwm.org.uk | Subjects: | British Army 5th Army British Capture of & 17/10/1918 commemorative Western Front & Allied Offensives 1918 & Lille 11th Corps | Source: | Imperial War Museum | Creator: | Dropsy, Henry | Identifier: | http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/o... | Go to resource |
|
|