Medal of the British Legation at Bern for assistance given to prisoners of WWI

[svapr]

Hello, I came across this medal that was probably made in Switzerland. But I couldn't find any details about her. This text reads (Schweizer Münzblätter 1981): signed JH (Jean D. Hirschy), 37mm, bronze. I don't know anyone the details. How many were produced, etc. Thank you. 

[svapr]

Hi,

in the Swiss magazine La patrie suisse published in 1918, there is a short article in which this medal is stated: "On November 20, 1918, a ceremony was held organized by the British Legation in Bern on the occasion of the closure of the Relief Bureau responsible for the transport of prisoners of war to Germany (note: meaning German prisoners of war). We remember that the Bern office had 40 employees working specifically on this agenda. During the ceremony, the medal, which we have reproduced here, was presented to all the people who collaborated on this work. In the first place, among the ears of grain, we notice a young woman holding some of them in her hands and making a gesture of hope towards the remote plains where the prisoner camps can be seen. Behind the barbed wire stretches Lake Geneva, where the Chillon castle and the Dent du Midi stand out in the background. It was on the shores of this beautiful lake that the first convoys of prisoners landed. The Swiss cross dominates the whole subject, its glow reaching the camp through the clouds. On the reverse, St. George slaying the dragon, surmounted by an inscription. It was the manufacturer from La Chaux de Fonds, well known for his numerous glyptic designs for watch decorations, Mr. Paul Ditisheim, who was chosen by the British committee to make this medal. The models were made by Mr. Jean David Hirschy, an artist from the same locality who had already made himself known by several very meritorious works; the production was carried out by the Huguenin brothers in Le Locle. This medal, which symbolizes Great Britain, Switzerland and the work of the Red Cross, was presented to the British Museum by Sir Evelyn Grand Duff, former British Minister to Switzerland. It was also deposited in the Imperial War Museum in London. Among medals of this type it is considered one of the finest and was highly praised by the Numismatic Circular (March-April 1919). 

 

This medal is also in the War imperial museum in London - see photo.