West Ham, London - Catholic (?) Award / Medal

[oamotme]

Gentlemen,
Whilst not  masonic I attach an image of a badge awarded by a Catholic institution - a church (?) in West Ham.
The text in the centre reads "For Merit" and the surrounding text reads, "West Ham SS A London".
It is possible that this a French manufactured/authorised piece as the "A" may be "at" London.
Has anyone seen this or something similar or know its background?
Many thanks,
Owain

P.S. Apologies if this is the wrong forum.

[Bayern]

Hello ,West Ham Superior School ? a Catholic School . Once I saw an almost identical one here in Argentine , with no School name on and the legend in French ,Au Merite . The crown at the top is interesting , looks as a French Bourbonic one..

[Trooper_D]

Owain

You may have seen this already but Google threw up this variant, which had been on sale at eBay. 

Unfortunately, the listing is no longer available. However, the following was discernible from the search results:

"UNUSUAL FRENCH/BRITISH FULL SIZE MEDAL (WEST HAM SS A LONDON)

Here we have a full size medal that we know nothing about. Found in France it is made in the French style."

I'm not sure that that is particularly helpful but it is another data point.

Edited January 29, 2020 by Trooper_D
Found a better quality image

[oamotme]

Thanks Bayern & Trooper,

I attach images of all the miniatures - attached to a Belgian chain of miniatures.

As you can see a variety of formats, but all are well made and all bear the same inscription. Trooper's image is yet another, so a total of five designs so far.

I believe all are of French (or Belgian) manufacture (post WW1) and I think they follow a format adopted by similar associations/societies in France.

Regards,

Owain

 

[Medal_Bart]

On 29/01/2020 at 11:47, Trooper_D said:

Owain

You may have seen this already but Google threw up this variant, which had been on sale at eBay. 

Unfortunately, the listing is no longer available. However, the following was discernible from the search results:

"UNUSUAL FRENCH/BRITISH FULL SIZE MEDAL (WEST HAM SS A LONDON)

Here we have a full size medal that we know nothing about. Found in France it is made in the French style."

I'm not sure that that is particularly helpful but it is another data point.

 

Hi Owain,
I am a collector from Belgium.
I just bought this medal also and am sure that there is a link beween Belgium and Britian.
I also don't know (yet) why this was given but... What I can tell is that the crown, wreath and manufacture is made in Belgium as they are tipical of what we use on many other medals over here.

If I find out more, I will let you know.

Regards Bart

[oamotme]

Bart,

Many thanks. A very large number of Belgian nationals came to the UK as refugees during the Great War - some 250,000 plus - and I suspect that the answer to the mystery of these medals/awards may lie in the communities that these people made and lived in in UK.

 

Kind regards,

 

Owain