Egypt Shedwan medal

[bilylev]

Hello guys,

I have just bought so called Shedwan medal. Shedwan is a small rocky island in Red Sea. Egyptian army has there some radar and a small unit to guard it. On January 22nd, 1970 Israeli forces atacked the island and battle took 36 hours. Egypt lost 70 men and Israel 50. Egypt has issued a medal to commemorate the event. It must have been soon atfter that because the name of state, flag and state symbols were in use till 1971. I dont read Arabic and in such cases I use a service of my tobacconist , who is a Palestinian. He says that inscription on the avers means Shedwan , the upper inscription on the revers is United Arab Republic and lower inscription means something like " in memory of" or "commemorating Shedwan". I would appreciate if somebody can give more informations, for example who and when established the medal, what is the full official name etc. The seller insits, that only 100 pieces was produced, what would make this medal extremply rare.

Jan

[ChrisW]

Hi Jan,

Congratulations on your recent acquisition! I too recently acquired one, probably from the same seller!

I'm afraid I don't have much more information. The battle of Shedwan Island was sort of a pyrrhic victory for the Egyptians, in that not all the defenders were killed or captured, and stood their ground. It was the last major battle of the War of Attrition, but I don't know why this particular battle should be commemorated.

I first became aware of this medal in the early 1980s, at the Military Museum at the Cairo Citadel. There was a display of Egyptian medal ribbons, which included this one, simply titled "Shedwan Medal." I've never run across any documentation or seen another one until now.

Best,

Chris

[bilylev]

Hi Chris,

I am sure this is from the same seller because I have seen in his feedbacks he sold one before mine. He told me his uncle is writing book about Egyptian ODM, let´s hope he will finish it soon .

regards

Jan