TracA

Hello No One, As usual, wonderful contributions to this thread. Are these items in your possession? All the best, Tracy

Greetings, I came across a Post 2003 Reform Order of the Rising Sun Small Ribbon (former 4th Class) and Middle Ribbon (former 3rd Class). I thought that I would post pictures of the case lids and medal obverses and reverses. The Small Ribbon, just like its two predecessors in “grade”, has no enamel on the reverse. The reverse of the Middle Ribbon, however, has the “sun” enameled but the paulownia leaves and flowers are not. Please note that I do not own these medals, and so I did not take the pictures. All credit is to the seller J-TrendHub. All the best, Tracy Small Ribbon obverse and case lid: Small Ribbon reverse: Middle Ribbon obverse and case lid: Middle Ribbon reverse:

No One, It is a fascinating topic. Thanks for posting the translation and links. Tracy

Nice medal. Sorry Greg, I do not. Good hunting! Tracy

Greetings Alex K, Thank you for the compliment. Indeed, I would know less if it weren't for the seasoned researchers, and their generosity to assist and give me pointers. Part of what drove me down this side-quest of British campaign medals is, as you say, the naming which in turn allows us to resurrect the soldier's history. Thanks for the compliment on the meal. It really has a gorgeous toning to it that is not done justice by my cell phone camera. I also love the fact that these medals are solid, rather large in diameter, hefty to the feel, and have wonderful detailing. All the best, Tracy

Very interesting set of documents. Thanks for posting them. Tracy

Greetings, Over the past several months I have developed a bit of a medal collecting side-quest: British Campaign Medals. Below is the first one that I have actually done a bit of research on. My Crimea medal is a single clasp, Alma, to Private P. O’Brien, 4th Regiment. I was provided with the applicable medal roll by the seller, so I quickly found the digitized copy at TNA and poked around. Per the wonderful book ‘By Order of Her Majesty’ The Crimea Medal I can say that my example is the smaller large date without full stop obverse, and that it has a pattern 1 Alma clasp. After carefully comparing the impression on Private P. O’Brien’s medal with pages 156 to the top of 158 in ‘By Order of Her Majesty’ I conclude that the medal is officially impressed. What can I say about the recipient? After studying WO 100/26, p. 161, and doing some perusing of that page and others, I am pretty sure that his first name is Patrick. I can also say that he was entitled to the Inkerman clasp, although it is not on his medal. A very helpful member of the British Medals Forum, and one of the authors of ‘By Order of Her Majesty’, informed me that by default Private Patrick O’Brien would also be entitled to the Sebastopol clasp, as apparently it was an automatic qualification by virtue of being at Inkermann. So, what I thought was a two clasper, with only one on the medal itself, turned into a three clasper. The medal recipient’s regiment number? Digitization of the medal roll’s gutter unfortunately cut it off. I originally thought that it was ?634 but revised that. See below. After taking advantage of the free for Remembrance Day weekend at FindMyPast, and flailing around that website, I was able to find a transcript reference to the WO 12 series (WO 12/2232 to be exact) for a Private Patrick O’Brien, 4th (The King’s Own) Regiment of Foot, Service Number 2534 (I believe the field should technically be labeled “regiment number” on the transcript), year 1851. That portion of the WO 12 series is not digitized, so I reached a roadblock. However, looking back at WO 100/26 I could now see the second digit of the regiment number as a 5 instead of a 6, so I settled on a regiment number of 2534. Looking back at the medal roll in combination with what I learned from ‘By Order of Her Majesty’ also told me something else about Private Patrick O’Brien: the ‘W.O.’ at the far right of his entry line indicates that he did not survive to receive his medal. Rather, a next of kin must have applied for the medal and the War Office then forwarded it on the date next to the ‘W.O.’, a date that I cannot fully read. I believe the month is April and the year is 1857, but I cannot decipher the date. The same helpful BMF member referenced above informed me that his research unearthed that the date of War Office issue to the next of kin was the 6th of April 1857, so that cleared-up the date issue for me. Given the above I thought that I might find Private Patrick O’Brien, 4th (The King’s Own) Regiment of Foot, listed in the London Gazette as a casualty. I searched for ‘P O’brien’ from the 20th of September 1854 to the 31st of December 1858. Alas, I found nothing. Then it dawned on me that the Gazette more than likely would only list casualties as a result of the fighting, and not as a result of disease or harsh winter conditions. He must have survived long enough, however, to qualify for the Inkerman clasp. Once again the wonderful BMF member referenced above came to the rescue and pointed me to the Old Mersey Times website and told me where to look so that I could unearth the sad ending of Private Patrick O’Brien. He died of fever at Scutari Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey sometime between December 31st, 1854 and January 3rd, 1855. Below are some detailed pictures of the single clasp Crimea medal to Private Patrick O’Brien, who actually qualified for three clasps but sadly did not survive to receive his medal. Fortunately a next of kin cared enough to apply for the medal and then received it, officially impressed, from the War Office. I am now honored to hold Private Patrick O’Brien’s, 4th (The King’s Own) Regiment of Foot, Crimea Medal, and thereby keep alive some memory of the man. The toning on the medal is, to my eye, quite beautiful. All the best, Tracy A snip of WO 100/26 p. 161 for the two O’Briens in the regiment. Obverse: Clasp close-up: Reverse: Naming. Officially impressed, I believe. It took me quite a while to figure out how best to use my cell phone to capture the naming. The first ‘E’ came out looking very odd because it is actually not a full strike on the medal rim: Suspension bar rivet, right side of the obverse. A good rivet head: Suspension bar rivet, left side of the obverse. Looks pretty iffy, and I was informed by an expert that this is a sure sign of the medal having been tampered with by the removal of the clasp carriage and adding of the single Alma clasp. The implication to me is that the War Office would have sent the medal without any clasps.

Greetings, I was lucky enough to acquire this wonderful Order of the Sacred Treasure, 4th Class, with the ナ (na) hallmark in the middle of the lower third of the reverse. For a little more information, see my post above about the Order of the Sacred Treasure 7th Class with the same mark. I note that this is an example where the stripes on the rosette are a different color than the stripes on the ribbon, pink on the former and yellow on the latter. Thanks for looking. Tracy Obverse. Note the different colored stripes: Reverse: ナ (na) hallmark up close. It was a bit difficult to photograph. Case lid, with a single row of gold kanji and the “Meiji/Taisho” stylization of 勛 (kun).

Hello Kshea, Welcome. I gave a quick glance over my copy of The Waterloo Medal Roll, published by The Naval and Military Press, as sometimes a fresh set of eyes can do wonders. I also did not find a Maurice Shea. In fact, the only Shea listed for the 73rd Regiment of Foot is Wm. Shea, Captain Kennedy's Co. Have you posted your question on the British Medals Forum? If not, then I suggest you do so. You have to create an account, but it is free. Good luck with your quest, All the best, Tracy

Greg, Nice indeed. Congratulations. Tracy

Hello USN, I am just seeing this thread. Have you tried posting this question on the British Medals Forum? You will have to register to use the site, but registration is free. Tracy

No One, What a wonderful collection of family history. It is awesome to have those items in your possession. All the best, Tracy

No One, I assume that is Arabic on the medal. Do you know what it says? Are all of these Tirailleur badges yours? If they are, then you have an amazing collection. All the best, Tracy

Thank you, No One. My collection is also growing slightly out of control, or maybe just out of control. 😄 I am running out of space to display my collection, and if I really start picking-up my collecting of Queen's South Africa, King's South Africa, and Crimea medals, then I am really in for it. All the best, Tracy

My fifth and final entry for now. I thought that I had recently acquired six marked items but alas, photos can be deceiving. What I thought was an M mintmark on the reverse ball of an Order of the Rising Sun 8th Class turned out to simply be a trick of the light in the seller’s photograph. Below is a beautiful Order of the Rising Sun 7th Class with double enameling. Although it did not come with a lapel rosette or bow, it did come with the ribbon for a medal bar. On the reverse of the ball is the M mintmark of the Japan Mint, Osaka. Known time coordinates are March 1930 to April 6, 1943. The case lid has a double row of stylized gold kanji with the “Meiji/Taisho” stylization of 勛 (kun). Unfortunately it is missing the clasp that attaches to the top half of the lid. Enjoy. Tracy Obverse: Reverse: Close-up of the M on the reverse of the ball: Case lid: