King Hussein Medal

 

Jordanian Civil War 1970 - 1971.

 

Further relevant historical context can be found at the foot of this entry.

 

 

The King Hussein Medal was a Jordanian campaign medal presented for service during the Jordanian Civil War. The medal was instituted in 1970 and was awarded by King Hussein of Jordan to those members of British Forces who participated in Operation ‘Shoveller’ - although permission has never been granted to wear it.

 

 

The medal is circular, 36mm in diameter and was struck in silver. The obverse of this medal depicts - in enamel - the red-crescent and red-cross emblems which are surrounded by the inscription (in both Arabic and English); ‘THE HASHEMITE KINGDOM OF JORDAN’, along with the date (also in Arabic and English); ‘1970’.

 

The reverse is plain with an inscription in English; 'IN TOKEN OF GRATITUDE OF THE GOVERNMENT AND PEOPLE OF JORDAN 1970'. that runs across seven lines at the centre.

 

The medal is surmounted by a small laterally pierced ball suspension.

 

The medal was issued un-named.

 

 

 

The ribbon is 38mm wide and is crimson in colour.

 

 

None were authorised for this medal.

 

Further relevant historical context can be found at the foot of this entry.

 

 

 

* It should be noted that the values quoted above reflect the average price that a medal dealer may expect to sell this medal for - please see the ‘things you should know’ web page for more details about valuing medals.

 

 

This section contains information on:-

 

- ‘Operation Shoveller’.

- Black September.

- King Hussein Of Jordan.

 

'Operation Shoveller' - ‘Operation Shoveller’ was a medical relief operation carried out at the request of the Jordanian Government. It was carried out by a composite team with the code-name of ‘Ferrie Force'.

 

The force - comprised a command element from the HQ of 3rd Division and included a 50 bed medical unit from the 2nd Field Hospital, Spearhead Section - 19th Field Ambulance. It also included a ‘Defence Platoon’ with a detachment from the Prince of Wales Own Regiment which was supported by the 30th Royal Signals and the 38th Group Support Unit, R.A.F. (from Cyprus), along with a detachment from R.A.F. Aeromed and UKMAMS Teams.

 

The force was based in the partially built King Hussein Military Hospital on the outskirts of Amman. The medical units supported by the R.A.F. (who were tasked with handling Hercules and Argosy aircraft form 70th Squadron Akrotiri in Cyprus and CL44’s from a civilian airline ‘Tradewinds’) were deployed from the United Kingdom to Cyprus on 21 September 1970 (also known as ‘Black September’), and entered Jordan on 30 September; it withdrew from Jordan one month later on the 1 and 2 November.

 

It is estimated that over 5000 died and thousands more were wounded during the Civil War.

 

Black September - The term Black September refers to the Jordanian Civil War that began in September 1970 and ended in July of 1971.

 

The conflict was fought between the two major components of the Jordanian population, the Palestinians represented by the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) under the leadership of Yasser Arafat and the native Jordanians represented by the Jordanian Armed Forces under the leadership of King Hussein.

 

At its core the civil war sought to determine if Jordan would be ruled by the Palestine Liberation Organisation or the Hashemite Monarchy.

 

The war resulted in the deaths of thousands of people, the vast majority Palestinian. Armed conflict ended with the expulsion of the PLO leadership and thousands of Palestinian fighters to Lebanon.

 

This information was taken from ‘Wikipedia’. The original article and details of the authors can be found here. It is reproduced on this web-site under the ‘creative commons’ licence which can be found here.

 

King Hussein Of Jordan - Hussein bin Talal; 14 November 1935 - 7 February 1999, was King of Jordan from the abdication of his father, King Talal, in 1952, until his death. Hussein's rule extended through the Cold War and four decades of Arab-Israeli conflict.

 

He recognized Israel in 1994, becoming the second Arab head of state to do so (after Anwar Sadat in 1978/1979). Hussein claimed to be a descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his belonging to the ancient Hashemite family

 

This information was taken from ‘Wikipedia’. The original article and details of the authors can be found here. It is reproduced on this web-site under the ‘creative commons’ licence which can be found here.