| Crimea Medal | |
|---|---|
Obverse (top left) and reverse (top right) of the medal. Ribbon: 32mm, pale blue with yellow edges. |
|
| Awarded by United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland | |
| Type | Campaign medal |
| Eligibility | British forces. |
| Awarded for | Campaign service. |
| Campaign | Crimean War. |
| Description | Silver disk, 36mm diameter. |
| Clasps |
|
| Statistics | |
| Established | 15 December 1854 |
| Related | Turkish Crimea Medal |
The Crimea Medal was a campaign medal approved in 1854, for issue to officers and men of British units (land and naval) which fought in the Crimean War of 1854-56 against Russia.
The medal is notable for its extremely ornate clasps, being in the form of an oak leaf with an acorn at each extremity, a style never again used on a British medal. The suspension is an ornate floriated swivelling suspender, again unique to the Crimea Medal.
Five bars were authorised, the maximum awarded to one man was four.[1] Azoff was only issued to Naval and Marine personnel. The medal was issued without a clasp to those who were present in the Crimea, but not present at any of the qualifying actions. A five bar specimen is held in the Royal Collection.[2]
This medal was also presented to certain members of allied French forces. These medals, in addition to the five British clasps, were often issued with unauthorised French bars; Traktir, Tchernaia, Mer d'Azoff, and Malakof.[1]
The medal was awarded with the British version of the Turkish Crimean War medal, but when a consignment of these were lost at sea some troops were issued with the Sardinian version instead.
