I was looking through my drawer of watches and came across this medal. briefly looked up info and turns out it was sent out via mail in 1921 to Veterans of the war. The bar is the country the serviceman served in. So this medal is 100 years old.
That's wonderful - congratulations. I was an exchange student in South Africa and have always been fascinated with the Boer War. The Canadians who served in the British forces during same received "Brave Boys" medals in 1900 to welcome them home. Here is my example of same (no family connection, just something that caught my eye)
Yes, I agree. I knew I had this and got it from my grand parents on my mother's side. They would have been 8 or 9 during the great one so not sure if it would have been one of their father's or uncle's. It was kept in a small thin cloth bag, almost like a canvas material and not in the original box that it was issued in. I think the bag protected the surfaces and the medal is a wonderful example of original surfaces.
Can you attribute who it belonged to if it was in with other family items, or was this a "lot" you purchased and it just happen to be in there? My mother had one that was passed down in the family, along with several other medals and a family pocket watch. My sister has all of it now.
Definitely part of items from my mother's mother, who out lived her husband (my Gramps) by 25 years but never remarried. Not part of a lot for sure. This is going to lead me into some family history, I have a decent genealogy of names and dates back from my grand parents, but little on specifics of my ancestor's lives...
My grandfather should have gotten one of these but I don't think he did. When he came to America in 1913, he first settled in Atlantic City. When the US entered the war, he enlisted and was based out of Fort Dix (then called Camp Dix), but when he came back, he moved. By 1921 he would have been living in Akron, OH. So if they mailed them out, he may never have gotten it. I do have a couple of what is called trench art jewelry of his, including a ring with the German cross on it. German POWs would trade their jewelry (often hand made by them) for goods or favors from their captors.
