Abyssinian War Medal

Abyssinian War Medal
Obvserse and reverse of the medal
Awarded by UK
Type	Campaign medal
Eligibility	British and British Indian Army
Awarded for	Campaign Service
Campaign	1868 Expedition to Abyssinia
Statistics
Established	1 March 1869
Precedence
Next (higher)	New Zealand Medal
Next (lower)	Canada General Service Medal
Ribbon bar of the medal

The Abyssinian War Medal was awarded for service between 4 October 1867 and 19 April 1868^[1] to those who participated in the 1868 Expedition to Abyssinia. This punitive expedition, led by Lieutenant-General Sir Robert Napier, was carried out by armed forces of the British Empire against the Ethiopian Empire. Emperor Tewodros II of Ethiopia, imprisoned several missionaries and two representatives of the British government.^[2] The punitive expedition launched by the British in response required the transportation of a sizable military force hundreds of miles across mountainous terrain lacking any road system.

Description

Obverse: Head of diademed Queen Victoria with the inscription Abyssinia.

Reverse: Central shield engraved with the recipient's name, surrounded by a laurel wreath.

Ribbon: Crimson ribbon with white edges.

References

^ United Kingdom: Abyssinian War Medal, Medals of the World, retrieved 28 December 2010
^ Abyssinian War Medal awarded to AB Seaman T. Simpkin of HMS Spiteful, 1869., The Fitzwilliam Museum, retrieved 28 December 2010

British campaign medals

19th Century	Army Gold Cross (1810) • Army Gold Medal (1810) • Waterloo Medal (1815) • Ghuznee Medal (1839) • Candahar, Ghuznee, Cabul Medal (1842) • Jellalabad Medals (1842) • Medal for the Defence of Kelat-I-Ghilzie (1842) • First China War Medal (1842) • Scinde Medal (1843) • Gwalior Star (1843) • Sutlej Medal (1846) • Naval General Service Medal (1847) • Military General Service Medal (1847) • Punjab Medal (1849) • Army of India Medal (1851) • India General Service Medal (1854) • South Africa Medal (1854) • Crimean War Medal (1854) • Baltic Medal (1856) • Indian Mutiny Medal (1858) • Second China War Medal (1861) • New Zealand Medal (1869) • Abyssinian War Medal (1869) • Canada General Service Medal (1866-70) • Ashantee Medal (1873-74) • South Africa Medal (1877-79) • Afghanistan Medal (1878-80) • Kabul to Kandahar Star (1880) • Cape of Good Hope General Service Medal (1880-97) • Egypt Medal (1882-89) • North West Canada Medal (1885) • British South Africa Company Medal (1890-97) East and West Africa Medal (1892) • India Medal (1896) • Ashanti Star (1896) • Queen's Sudan Medal (1899) • East and Central Africa Medal (1899) • Queen's South Africa Medal (1899) • Queen's Mediterranean Medal (1899)

Pre World War 1	China War Medal (1900) • Ashanti Medal (1901) • King's South Africa Medal (1902) • Africa General Service Medal (1902) • Transport Medal (1902) (for South Africa or China) • Tibet Medal (1905) • India General Service Medal (1909)

World War 1	1914 Star • 1914-15 Star • British War Medal • Victory Medal • Territorial Force War Medal • Mercantile Marine War Medal

Inter World War	General Service Medal (1918) • Naval General Service Medal (1915) • India General Service Medal (1936)

World War 2	1939-1945 Star • Atlantic Star • Air Crew Europe Star • Africa Star • Pacific Star • Burma Star • Italy Star • France and Germany Star • Defence Medal • War Medal 1939–1945

Post World War	Korea Medal (1951) • General Service Medal (1962) • Rhodesia Medal (1980) • South Atlantic Medal (1982) • Gulf Medal (1992) Accumulated Campaign Service Medal (1994)

21st Century	OSM for Sierra Leone (2000) • OSM for Afghanistan (2002) • OSM for Democratic Republic of Congo (2003) • Iraq Medal (2004) Iraq Reconstruction Service Medal (2004) • Accumulated Campaign Service Medal (2011)