War Medals and Their HistorySteward, William Augustus
History
War Medals and Their History
Steward, William Augustus
Great Britain. Army -- Medals, badges, decorations, etc.; Great Britain. Royal Navy -- Medals, badges, decorations, etc.
=Turkish General Service Medal.=--The Turkish General Service medal,
incorrectly called the "Danube Medal," was awarded by the Turkish
Government in 1855 to the officers and 30 men comprising the crew of a
British gunboat, and to a Colonel and 16 men of the Royal Engineers,
for services rendered on the Danube in 1854. On the obverse is the
cypher of the Sultan Abdil Mageed Khan II within a beaded circle, with
flags and laurel branches, and above all a crescent and star. On the
reverse is an elliptical star of twelve points, with a smaller one of
six in the centre; underneath is a scroll bearing an inscription in
Persian characters, reading "Mischani Iftikar" (Medal for Glory), and
under all a small star between laurel wreaths. The medal is 1⅕ in. in
diameter, and was suspended from a silver scroll bar by the same ribbon
as used with the Turkish Crimean medal. The General Service medals were
issued in gold and silver, gold to the officers and silver to the men.
=The Silistria Medal.=--Sir John Lintorn Arabin Simmonds, who was one
of the officers to receive the medal referred to above, was awarded
another in gold for his services in the defence of Silistria in 1854.
Six other British officers also received the medal, but in silver. The
obverse is the same as the General Service medal, but on the reverse
is, within a beaded border, the fortress of Silistria, over which the
Turkish flag is flying, with the Danube in the foreground. In the
exergue on a scroll is SILISTRIA and the year of the Hegira "1271"
in Arabic characters. The medal is 1⁹⁄₂₀ in. in diameter, and was
suspended from a steel ring run through it by the same ribbon as used
with the Turkish Crimean medal.
=Kars Medal.=--The Sultan of Turkey granted a silver medal for his
brilliant defence of Kars to Sir William Fenwick Williams, and to
several other British officers who had served with him, and also to
his artillery servant. It has the same obverse as the Turkish General
Service medal, but on the reverse is depicted the citadel and town of
Kars, with the Turkish flag flying over the citadel, and underneath
KARS and the date Hegira "1272" (1856). The medal, 1⁹⁄₂₀ in. in
diameter, has a milled edge and was suspended from a straight silver
bar and clip by 1½ in. crimson ribbon with green stripes at the side.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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