Medal for China, 1900.—Queen Victoria had decided that those who had taken part in the campaign should be awarded a medal to commemorate their labours. Her decease, however, delayed the consummation of her desire, but in January 1902 the late King Edward gave the necessary instructions for the striking of the medal. It was decided to use the same reverse as on the China medal of 1842, and to revert to the dating of the exergue, so that 1900 appears thereon. On the obverse is the same bust of Queen Victoria as appears on the South African medal. Instead of the strange suspender issued with the second China medal, a straight clasp was used, and in place of the old fishtail bar the straight type was utilised. Three bars were issued with the medal: one with TAKU FORTS to those who were engaged in the Peiho River in the capture of the Forts on June 17th, 1900; one for the DEFENCE OF LEGATIONS to those who took part in the defence; and one for the RELIEF OF PEKIN to those who took part in the operations at or beyond Taku between June 10th and August 14th inclusive, which resulted in the relief of the city and Legations. The names of the recipients were mostly impressed upon the edge of the medal in light Roman capitals, and the same type of ribbon as supplied for the 1842 medals was used for suspension.
The following regiments were engaged: 2nd Batt. Royal Welsh Fusiliers; 12th Field Battery R.A.; 1st and 14th Sikhs; 3rd Madras N.I.; 4th Goorkas; 2nd, 7th, and 26th Bengal Infantry; 22nd and 30th Bombay N.I.; 24th Punjab Infantry; 1st Madras Pioneers; No. 2 Company Bombay Sappers; No. 3 Company Madras Sappers; No. 4 Company Bengal Sappers, and 1st Bengal Lancers. A Naval Brigade from thirty-six of H.M. ships also participated in the campaign, but most naval medals were awarded without bars, consequently those with bars are scarce, particularly those awarded to men of the Naval Brigade who had previously fought in the Boer War, scaled the Tugela Heights, and taken part in the Relief of Ladysmith.
THE BOER WAR
Little over a decade has passed since the South African, or Boer War, was brought to a close, so that it is hardly necessary for me to enter into details of the fighting, since so many will readily call to mind the events which led up to the ultimatum from the Boer Government in October 1899, and the necessity for Britain to place in the field the largest army ever sent out of England—about 200,000 men, which makes the army of 30,000 that fought under Viscount Wolseley in Egypt look very insignificant. During the first seven months of the war the battles of Talana Hill, Elandslaagte, Belmont, Modder River, Tugela Heights, Paardeberg and Driefontein, and many another battle had been fought and won; the sad disaster at Magersfontein had taken place, and the oft-wounded Wauchope killed. Ladysmith and Kimberley had been gallantly defended and relieved, and the siege of Wepener raised. Two hundred and eighteen British officers and 2,062 soldiers had been killed in action; 53 officers and 492 men had died of their wounds; 64 officers and 2,028 men had died of disease, and 664 officers and 9,225 men had been wounded. Indeed, a grand total of 24,253 officers and men had been killed or placed hors de combat. During the war Great Britain and her colonies lost in action 5,774 officers and men, and 16,168 by disease, while of those sent home 508 succumbed to their wounds or disease, 22,829 were wounded, and 5,879 were invalided out of the service.
Cape Colony.—There is a mistaken idea that the single bar for CAPE COLONY is not worth consideration as an engagement bar, but as a matter of fact many a brave fellow found a billet for a Boer bullet in the north of Cape Colony during the early days of the war, as the casualty records of certain regiments show. It is true, however, that many a man never got within miles of the enemy, and had to be content with the "donkey work" of looking after things for those at the front, while some whose bars include that for Cape Colony only landed for a day or two, and were then transported by sea to the fighting area. NATAL on a bar means, as every one knows, service in the zone where Buller did so much hard fighting—indeed, it was the Boer invasion of Natal on October 12th, 1899, that necessitated the defence of Ladysmith, and occupied the efforts of the Natal Field Force during 1900.
The Queen's Medal.—Twenty-six bars were issued in connection with the Queen's medal. Many think this constitutes a record, and it does for one campaign, but twenty-eight were issued with the Military General Service medal which was awarded in 1847; this, however, covered a series of campaigns. No less than 230 bars were issued with the Naval General Service medal also authorised in 1847, but these were obviously to cover a series of operations and campaigns. The bars for the Boer War are as follows, ranged in chronological order: CAPE COLONY, NATAL, RHODESIA, RELIEF OF MAFEKING, DEFENCE OF KIMBERLEY, TALANA, ELANDSLAAGTE, DEFENCE OF LADYSMITH, BELMONT, MODDER RIVER, TUGELA HEIGHTS, RELIEF OF KIMBERLEY, PAARDEBERG, ORANGE FREE STATE, RELIEF OF LADYSMITH, DRIEFONTEIN, WEPENER, DEFENCE OF MAFEKING, TRANSVAAL, JOHANNESBURG, LAING'S NEK, DIAMOND HILL, WITTEBERGEN, BELFAST, SOUTH AFRICA 1901, SOUTH AFRICA 1902. The latter two were issued to those who, although engaged during the period for which the King's Medal was awarded, were nevertheless not entitled to it by the terms of the grant. Talana, where General Penn Symonds was killed on October 20th, 1899, was the first general engagement, and Belfast, fought on August 26th and 27th, 1900, the last. The bars should read upwards from the medal in the order arranged above.
This medal by G. W. De Saulles is 1⅖ in. in diameter, and has on the obverse the bust of Her Majesty Queen Victoria (as shown in the illustration facing page [176]). On the reverse is a spirited figure of Britannia, grasping the Union Jack in her left hand, while with her right she offers the laurel wreath to the army which marches past:
"A varied host, from kindred realms they come,
Brethren in arms, but rivals in renown."
Behind her in the distance is a man-of-war in Table Bay, and in the foreground, lying to the left, her shield and trident; above is SOUTH AFRICA. It is noteworthy that the Army Order specifically mentions not only the Colonial and Indian forces, but nurses and nursing sisters. Bronze medals without bars were given to non-enlisted men of whatever nationality who drew military pay, and to authorised camp followers. The ribbon has a broad centre stripe of orange, with dark blue and red stripes at the sides. The names, etc., were mostly indented in skeleton block letters, some tall and some square, but many were engraved in slanting Roman capitals. The first medals awarded, including those issued to the Canadian contingent, had the date 1899-1900 printed on the field to the right of Britannia, but this, of course, quickly rubbed off when the medal was worn. Medals, however, in mint condition, are sometimes found with the date still clearly showing.