The Baudichon medal of the sinking of the RMS Lusitania, May 7, 1915, issued in circa 1920

An undated photo of the RMS Lusitania. Note the flags of the UK and the USA.


In the past, from time to time, I would visit a favorite seller on eBay who sells just about anything. The vast number of items listed are collectibles of various types, and occasionally an item of interest, for me, pops up.

The item for this thread is the René Baudichon bronze medal, created in 1920 to commemorate two events: the sinking of the Lusitania on May 7, 1915 as well as the participation of the United States in World War I on the side of the Allies. That the medal was created following the "War to end all wars", it is something of a victor's medal, a counterpoint to the famous Goetz medal of August 1915 and subsequent reissue by the British.

This medal depicts the ocean liner sinking bow first, a capsized life boat in the foreground, a drowning child above and May 7 1915 below. The other side depicts the Statue of Liberty holding a raised sword, rising from a tempestuous sea, Ultrix America Juris (America, Avenger of Right) above, and 1917 USA 1918 for the lower half legend.

This medal came with the original case and a copy of an old photo (above).










I am not an active collector of medals, but when a historically significant one appears, who can resist?

For a detailed account of the sinking and associated developments, here's a link:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_the_RMS_Lusitania

 

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Nice one. I haven't seen this before. I have the Goetz medal that you mentioned.

 

Hi Chris, is your Goetz medal the British version?

 

Yep. It came with some paperwork as well but apparently the scan is too large to post here.

 

Very nice!

 

The drowning baby is a bit too graphic for my liking. Kind of in bad taste, I think!

 

True, it is on the heavy-handed side, but such was the nature of propaganda medals, posters and other media back then.

I remember seeing posters depicting German soldiers as barely human on Allied posters during World War I. The Germans did indeed commit war atrocities during the conflict, notably in Belgium early in the war, but the extreme caricature used was over the top.

 

Undeniably a wonderful medal. How much did you pay?

 

My father was in the U.S. Navy during WWII. After the war, he was discharged and worked at an RCA Production Company in Indianapolis. He tried to get back into the Navy, but could not get his rank back. He later enlisted into the U.S. Army, working with the Medical Corps. After his Army training, he was transferred to Landstuhl U.S. Army Hospital in Landstuhl, Germany. We followed him to Germany a few months after him. I was about 6. I had a ball living in Germany. They were some of the nicest people I ever met. My parents hired a maid/"babysitter". I learned to speak German better than my English, but soon after we went back to the states, I was only about 8 and forgot most of my German. We became quite attached to them. While there, I collected several German coins.. issued before, during, and after WWII. Due to my youth, I lost them. Many of them had been issued during WWII. My father did not want anything related to WWII in our home. He lost many of his friends and relatives during WWII.

 

An interesting fact I heard from a survivor who made it by swimming to shore. Of course they didn't have much time to abandon ship. Some were thrown off due to the concussion but quite a few others he estimated who jumped off drowned from their water-logged clothes having weighted them down. He and the others who for the most part stripped first made it.