Queen’s Mediterranean Medal

 

The Second Boer War 1899 - 1902.

 

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

 

 

The Queen's Mediterranean Medal was a British Empire campaign medal presented for service during the Second Boer War. The medal was instituted in 1899 and was awarded to volunteer and militia troops who had replaced their regular Army counterparts in the various military garrisons across the Mediterranean. This allowed regular troops to be available for the Second Boer War.

 

However troops on the island of St. Helena who were guarding Boer prisoners of war in the POW camp were awarded the Queen's South Africa Medal without bar.

 

Approximately 5000 of the Queen's Mediterranean Medal were awarded in total. They were issued to the 3rd Battalions of the: Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, Royal Fusiliers, West Yorkshire Regiment, Royal North Lancashire Regiment, Royal West Kent Regiment and the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry.

 

 

The medal is circular, 36mm in diameter and was struck in silver. The obverse of this medal has the crowned bust of Queen Victoria with the inscription; 'VICTORIA REGINA ET IMPERATRIX'.

 

The reverse depicts Britannia facing right with her right hand stretched out holding a wreath. Behind her is a shield bearing the Union Flag and in the background can be seen both the ships of the Royal Navy and soldiers marching to battle while above is the inscription; 'MEDITERRANEAN'.

 

The ribbon suspender is of the plain, straight and swivelling style riveted to the medal.

 

The recipient's details can be found on the medal's rim in both engraved and impressed styles.

 

 

 

The ribbon is 32mm wide and has a wide orange stripe at the centre with a red and narrow black stripe along either edge.

 

 

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:-

 

- The Second Boer War.

- The Boer's As Prisoners Of War.

 

The Second Boer War - The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic (Transvaal Republic) and the Orange Free State.

 

It ended with a British victory and the annexation of both republics by the British Empire; both would eventually be incorporated into the Union of South Africa, a dominion of the British Empire, in 1910.

 

The conflict is commonly referred to as The Boer War but is also known as the South African War outside South Africa, the Anglo-Boer War among most South Africans, and in Afrikaans as the Anglo-Boereoorlog or Tweede Vryheidsoorlog (Second War of Liberation or Second Freedom War) or the Engelse oorlog (English War).

 

The Second Boer War and the earlier, much less well known, First Boer War (December 1880 to March 1881) are collectively known as the Boer Wars.

 

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.

 

The Boer's As Prisoners Of War - During the Boer Wars the British established concentration camps to hold both civilians and prisoners of war. In total 109 camps were constructed for Boer and black African internees.

 

However, the majority of prisoners of war were sent overseas (25,630 out of the 28,000 Boer men captured during the fighting) with the vast majority of locally held Boer prisoners being women and children.

 

The camps were poorly administered, the food rations insufficient to maintain health, standards of hygiene were low and overcrowding was chronic. Over 26,000 women and children died in the camps during the wars.

 

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.