British Artiques Roadshow - Archive

We have been privileged to see many distinguised medals of honour, gallantry and chivalry on our roadshow tours of Canada.

Here are but a few. We are still in the process of identifying many.

Knight Commander of the

Order of the Bath and
Companions of the Bath

The above was awarded to :

Major General. Sir.Duncan MacPherson (Of Burgie) 

K.C.I.E., I.C.S., M.A.  in the 1840' s

Crimea War Medal and Sebastopol Clasp.

The Crimea Campaign: 1854-56

Branch of Service - British Army, Navy and Marines.

Description: (Obverse) Wyon profile of Queen Victoria; (reverse) a Roman soldier armed

with circular shield and short sword, being crowned by a flying Victory.

The Distinguished Service order.

Awarded for Valour

The Distinguished Service Order ( the DSO) dates back to 1886, during the reign of Queen Victoria and it is generally not awarded to officers below the rank of Major.

In terms of gallantry awards, the DSO ranks below the Victoria Cross but above the Military Cross in order of precedence.

It can be awarded for gallantry in action but it is more common for it to be awarded for leadership in the field.

The British War Medal

Was issued to British Commonwealth Troops. Army, Navy, Airforce, or Nursing Service.

First Issued at the end of the First World War, this medal celebrated the final victory.

The silver medal shows a male on horse back crushing a shield displaying German coat of arms. The destruction on the battlefield that so horrified all those involved is symbolised by the human skull and crossed bones under the horses rear feet.

The date of 1914 and 1918, indicated the years of combat, peace was finalised in 1919.

The obverse is also marked with a design. On the edge of this type of medal, the recipients name and details are stamped

The Victory medal

was issued in celebration of the end of the First World War, by the British.

Whereas:

The Commonwealth Victory medal was issued in celebration of the end of the First World War, by the British CommonwealthMany other countries took up the idea of this medal and had the same or similar versions struck. Most countries used the same ribbon. The other countries had slight variations to the design, but they all followed the same idea.

*The bronze oak leaf on the ribbon of this medal indicates another award. This is the M.I.D., or Mentioned In Dispatch. When the soldier had become noticeable for some deed or deeds, which were not the subject of another award, yet noteworthy and meritorious, he was mentioned in military dispatches, and praised for his achievements

Egypt Medal

(1884-1885)

The Egypt Medal (left) was authorized on the 5th of November 1884.

It was awarded to members of the army and navy who took part in the Egyptian Campaigns between 1882 and 1889. It has 13 various bars and was also awarded without a bar. There were 392 medals awarded to the Canadian Voyageurs with bar worded 'THE NILE' of which 46 also received the KIRBEKAN bar. All the Canadian boatmen were awarded the medal with the bar: It in turn was awarded to those who served south of Assouan on or before 07 March 1885, as part of the expedition to relieve General Gordon, then under siege at Khartoum. Many Canadian boatmen qualified for this bar.

The Kirbekan bar was awarded to those members of the expedition to relieve Gordon who actually reached Khartoum and was only awarded together with THE NILE (1884-85) bar. The Canadians who received this bar were under the command of Lord Wolseley who had commanded the Red River Expedition of 1870.

It is A circular, silver medal, 1.42 inches in diameter bearing A diademed, veiled effigy of Queen Victoria who faces left and the legend: VICTORIA REGINA ET IMPERATRIX. (same as the North West Canada Medal).
On the Reverse. The sphinx is depicted on a pedestal with the word EGYPT above. There was no date on the Canadian medal, but earlier medals awarded to the British Army had the date 1882 in exergue.

The ribbon is 1.25 inches wide, and consists of five equal stripes: blue, white, blue, white and blue.

The recipient's name is impressed on the rim in sloping capitals.

WW II   &

WWII Campaign medals

Distinguished flying medal

DISTINGUISHED FLYING MEDAL (D.F.M)  Was awarded to nonn-commissioned officers and men for an act or acts of valour, courge

or devotion to duty performed

whilst flying in active operations againstthe enemy.
For additional acts, a straight slip-on silver bar with an eagle in the centre was awarded to recipients.

Burma Star

Awarded: For service in Burma, China or Malaya between 11th December 1941 and 2nd September 1945

The

Distinguished Flying Cross

Pacific Star

The Pacific Star (above) was awarded for one day or more of operational service in the Pacific between 08 December 1941 and 02 September 1945.

Victoria Genral Service Medal

(Naval)

An Admiralty memorandum dated June I, 1847, notified the grant of this award to commemorate the services of the fleet during the wars commencing in 1793 and ending in 1815. this practically confined the award to those operations for which the Navy Gold Medal had been conferred. Subsequently, however, a board of admirals was appointed to consider claims and on their recommendation an Admiralty memorandum dated June 7, 1848, extended the grant.

Clasps were to be given for: (I) All Gold Medal actions or operations. (2) All actions in which first lieutenants or commanders were promoted, as had been customary after important and meritorious engagements. (3) All Boat Service operations in which the officer conducting the operations was promoted. (4) For, in co-operation with the land forces, the siege and capture of Martinique, 1809, Guadaloupe, 1810, Java, 1811, and St Sebastian, 1813, for all of which operations the Army Gold Medal had been awarded; and (5) The Bombardment of Algiers, 1816; the Battle of Navarino, 1827; and operations on the coast of Syria, 1840.

The Canadian Volunteer Service Medal

1939-45

For heroism or extraordinary achievement in aerial flight, this medal was awarded to officers and warrant officers for an act of valour, courage or devotion to duty, performed while flying in active operations against the enemy.

Established in 1926 it was made retroactive for actions after 1918. The first recipient of the D.F.C being Charles A. Lindberg.

Other distinguished aviators to receive the award were; Commander Richard Byrd and Amelia Earhart.

The DFC can be awarded for achievements in aviation as demonstrated by these three recipients, or for heroism in aerial combat.

About our researchers Freemanart + CONTACT