Item number: M128-1-2

Year: AD 1919

Weight: 104.6 g

Material: Cupronickel

Provenance: Spink 2022

This medal was awarded to Private P. Tudor of the 11th Battalion, Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort’s Own), for his service during the First World War. The War Medal is among the most commonly awarded British medals from the First World War.

The War Medal is made of cupronickel and was announced on October 12, AD 1919, awarded to officers and men who served in the war, members of the merchant fleet, or recognized women’s organizations by the government. Later, in AD 1920, it was expanded to include British forces involved in the intervention in the Russian Civil War. The obverse of the medal features a left-facing effigy of King George V, surrounded by the Latin inscription “George V is King and Emperor of all British people and Indians.” On the reverse side is Saint George riding a horse in a sunrise background representing victory, with the horse trampling the German eagle and a skull symbolizing death, and above on both sides are the years representing the duration of the war. The medal is suspended by a swivel straight bar suspension with claw and attached to a ribbon. The ribbon has a wide central orange watered stripe, flanked by narrow white, black, and navy-blue stripes.

During the First World War, Britain emerged as one of the major combatants, gaining control over numerous German colonies overseas and marking the final expansion phase of the British Empire. However, this four-year-long conflict exacted a heavy toll on Britain, resulting in the loss of approximately 6% of its adult male population, amounting to 880,000 lives. Additionally, the war left Britain heavily indebted to the United States, leading to a gradual shift in global dominance from the British Isles to the New World across the Atlantic, signaling the beginning of the end of the era of the British Empire where the sun never set.

物件編號: M128-1-2

年代: 公元 1919 年

重量: 104.6 g

材質: 白銅

來源: 斯賓克拍賣行 2022

這枚獎章是第一次世界大戰時，服役於英軍阿爾伯特親王步槍旅第11營的二等兵P. Tudor得到的紀念獎章，一戰獎章，是頒發最為普及的一戰英國獎章種類。

白銅製的一戰獎章，公布時間為公元1919年10月12日，頒發給曾參與戰爭的官兵、商船隊員或政府公認的婦女組織，後續公元1920年參與干涉俄國內戰的英軍也得以擴大申請。獎章正面是喬治五世的左臉浮雕，周圍帶有拉丁字「喬治五世是所有英國人和印度人的國王和皇帝」銘文。獎章背面是騎著駿馬的聖喬治在代表勝利的旭日背景下，馬踏代表德國的老鷹和死亡的骷顱，兩側上方則標示戰爭的始末年份。獎章以帶爪旋轉直桿懸掛和綬帶相接，綬帶中央有一寬闊的橙色水紋帶，兩側依序向外是狹窄的白色、黑色和海軍藍條紋。

英國作為第一次世界大戰的主要參戰國，獲得多數德國在海外的殖民地，完成大英帝國的最後一次擴張時光。然而這場長達四年的戰爭，讓英國本土就失去6%成年男性，即88萬人的犧牲。戰爭也讓英國欠下美國大筆的外債，使得世界霸權的位置逐漸從英倫三島轉移至彼岸的新大陸，標示日不落帝國的結束開端。