Tibet Medal | |
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Type | Campaign medal |
Awarded for | Campaign service. |
Description | Silver or bronze disk 36 mm wide |
Presented by | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland |
Eligibility | British Army. |
Campaign(s) | Tibet 1903–04 |
Clasps | Gyantse |
Established | 1 February 1905 |
Ribbon: red edged in white with green outer edges |
The Tibet Medal was authorised in February 1905 for all members of the Tibet Mission and accompanying troops who served at or beyond Siliguri from 13 December 1903, to 23 September 1904. [1]
The obverse of the medal, designed by G. W. de Saulles, [2] shows the left-facing bust of Edward VII in Field Marshal's uniform and the legend 'EDWARDVS VII KAISAR-I-HIND'. [1]
The reverse, designed by E. G. Gillick, [2] depicts the Potala (winter palace of the Dalai Lamas) in Lhasa on top of the red hill with the words 'TIBET 1903–04' below. [1]
The suspender is of the swivelling ornate scroll type. [2]
The clasp 'GYANTSE' was given to those present in operations between 3 May and 6 July 1904, in or near Gyantse Fortress. [3]
Both silver and bronze medals were issued named to the recipient on the rim in a cursive script. [2]
The 1.25 inches (32 mm) wide ribbon is maroon, flanked by narrow white, and wider green, stripes. [3]
The medal was awarded in silver to combatant troops and in bronze to camp followers, with both eligible for the 'Gyantse' clasp. Approximately 3,350 silver medals were awarded, including about 600 to the first battalion of the Royal Fusiliers, the only British Army unit present, and about 2,600 to members of the Indian Army, in addition to staff and support personnel. [2] In excess of 2,500 bronze medals were awarded, mainly to those employed in transporting supplies over the difficult terrain, including to the Peshawar Camel Corps [2] and locally-recruited coolies. [4]
The World War I Victory Medal was a United States service medal designed by James Earle Fraser of New York City under the direction of the Commission of Fine Arts.
Gyantse, officially Gyangzê Town, is a town located in Gyantse County, Shigatse Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, China. It was historically considered the third largest and most prominent town in the Tibet region, but there are now at least ten larger Tibetan cities.
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The British expedition to Tibet, also known as the Younghusband expedition, began in December 1903 and lasted until September 1904. The expedition was effectively a temporary invasion by British Indian Armed Forces under the auspices of the Tibet Frontier Commission, whose purported mission was to establish diplomatic relations and resolve the dispute over the border between Tibet and Sikkim. In the nineteenth century, the British had conquered Burma and Sikkim, with the whole southern flank of Tibet coming under the control of the British Indian Empire. Tibet ruled by the Dalai Lama under the Ganden Phodrang government was a Himalayan state under the protectorate of the Chinese Qing dynasty until the 1911 Revolution, after which a period of de facto Tibetan independence (1912–1951) followed.
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The Queen's Sudan Medal was authorised in March 1899 and awarded to British and Egyptian forces which took part in the Sudan campaign between June 1896 and September 1898.
The Ashanti Medal was sanctioned in October 1901 and was the first campaign medal authorised by Edward VII. This medal was created for those troops engaged in the Third Ashanti Expedition, also known as the War of the Golden Stool. This expedition lasted from March – December 1900, with the final outcome that the Ashanti maintained its de facto independence. Ashanti was made a Protectorate of the British Empire, but they ruled themselves with little reference to the colonial power.
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The Royal Niger Company’s Medal was a campaign medal issued in 1899 by the Royal Niger Company for service in minor military operations in Nigeria between 1886 and 1897. The award was approved by the British government and could be worn by British servicemen.
Lieutenant-Colonel Sir William Frederick Travers O'Connor was an Irish diplomat and officer in the British and British Indian armies. He is remembered for his travels in Asia, cartography, study and publication of local cultures and language, his actions on the Younghusband expedition to Tibet, Royal Geographic Society council member, member of the Royal Automobile Club and for his work negotiating and signing the Nepal–Britain Treaty of 1923.
Delhi Durbar Medals were instituted by the United Kingdom to commemorate the Delhi Durbar where the new Emperor of India was proclaimed, in 1903 for Edward VII, and in 1911 for George V. On both occasions the medals were one and a half inches in diameter and were awarded in both gold and silver. They were worn in date order alongside Coronation and Jubilee medals on the left chest, suspended from a ribbon one and a quarter inches wide. These Royal commemorative medals were worn before campaign medals until November 1918, after which the order of wear was changed, with them now worn after campaign medals and before long service awards.