A Baby's N.G.S.

 

Although British sailors and soldiers engaged in the Napoleonic Wars numbered in the many thousands and involved in hundreds of actions (some 230 were later recognized), practically no medals were issued at the time for the rank-and-file. The sole exception was for those present at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 for which a special medal was struck and awarded.

 

It was not until 1848 that the contributions of these soldiers and sailors was recognized by Queen Victoria - at the urging of Prince Albert . This was the "General Service" medal and there were two varieties: one for land actions by soldiers (the "Military General Service") and one for sailors ("Naval General Service"). Sometimes there was an overlap, a soldier being awarded a bar for a naval action when he was serving as a marine. Each medal was accompanied by one of more bars, the record being 15 awarded to a soldier.

 

All of the General Service medals were in silver and all bore a Young Head of Victoria by William Wyon on the obverse. There the two varieties diverged: the reverses of the Naval G.S. showed Britannia seated on a seahorse, a trident in her right hand, an olive branch in her left, a dove above (translating "war if need be, peace if possible"). Its ribbon was white with edges of deep blue. The "Military General Service" medal for the soldiers had reverses showing a standing Victoria crowning a kneeling victor with laurel with the legend TO THE BRITISH ARMY around and 1793-1814 in exergue; this medal's ribbon was dark red with deep blue edges.

 

Not nearly as many medals were awarded as could have been. In the first place, they were only awarded to the actual participants and after an interim of up to 55 years, mortality had removed many - perhaps most - from the rolls. Secondly, any such medal had to be applied for and many eligible recipients neglected to do this, either because they were unaware of the award or simply refused to go to the trouble. Even so, the General Service medal is very, very common as a group; what makes them scarce is the many bars - up to 230 of them - into which they are divided.

 

Perhaps the most unusual medal was a Naval G.S. awarded to a recipient rejoicing in the name of Daniel Tremendous McKenzie with a bar for " 1 June 1794 ". This sea battle, for which there was no other name than "The First of June", took place in the north Atlantic about 600 miles due west of France's Brittany peninsula between the fleets of Britain (25 ships of the line plus 7 frigates, Admiral Lord Howe commanding) and France (26 sail of the line, Admiral Villaret commanding). By noon , the battle was over, a hard-won British victory with six French ships captured and one sunk - but even the surviving British ships were largely dismasted. The Naval G.S. shown above left includes a bar for this action, engraved on the edge (as were all) with the recipient's name "Henry Rabbich" in this case and his rank: "A.B. Brunswick " and "A.B. Robust ".

 

But there exists one such medal with a single " 1 June 1794 " bar, the edge engraved "Daniel Tremendous McKenzie - Baby". During the action, Daniel McKenzie was born on board the H.M.S Tremendous , his mother being the wife of one of the crew, and some 54 years later, he was awarded a medal after having made application. Although there were a number of women aboard ship during actions for which medals were later awarded, none went to them. One Jane Townsend successfully applied for a "Trafalgar" bar and N.G.S. medal, having been aboard the H.M.S. Defiant during the action but her claim was later disallowed as "otherwise the large number of women who were aboard ships during the qualifying periods would have to be given the same rights." How times have changed.

 

Wayne Jacobs is a numismatic expert. Currently secretary and editor of the "Mid-Island Coin Club Numismatic Journal"of Nanaimo, Vancouver Island , British Columbia, he is the award winning author of numerous articles. The MICC journal are hosted here: MICC webpages Copyright 2006 Wayne Jacobs. This article may be reprinted freely for non commercial purpose only if the resource box is left intact, linking back to us.