IDENTIFIERS ----------- id: 141354 accession number: CM.1260-2009 DATE AUDIT ---------- created: Saturday 6 August 2011 updated: Monday 25 March 2024 DESCRIPTIVE DATA ---------------- object type: The Army of India Medal's issue in 1849 having marked the previous half-century's combats in the region, further conflicts in the 1850s led in 1854 to the design and issue of a General Service Medal for the theatre, for which bars would be issued as each new campaign merited. British India met Afghanistan at the North-West Frontier. Since British influence over Afghanistan competed with the Burmese kingdom of Ava and Russia, the region beyond the frontier, composed of a large number of more-or-less independent tribal statelets, was of great importance to British interests and required continual suppression by `punitive expeditions'. For the lesser ones of these the North West Frontier bar was awarded in 1869, but some expeditions were thought to merit individual bars. One such was that of the Umbeyla Expedition in 1863 by the Yusafzai Field Force, sent to quell a rising by the Pathan Bunerwal tribe in combination with Hindustani Muslim extremists. The extremists' fort at Malka was destroyed but not without fierce Bunerwal resistance. A memorial to those killed in the campaign still stands in the Umbeyla pass, including 22 men of the 101st Bengal Fusiliers, in whose ranks also served Private W. Small, whose medal this is. Lester Watson acquired it at some point before 1928. title: Indian General Service Medal (1854-95) NOTES ----- type: history note value: Gift of L. Hoyt Watson; ex Lester Watson Collection, acquired before 1928 LICENSING --------- text license status: CC0 image license status: CC-BY-NC-SA OWNERSHIP --------- instutition: The Fitzwilliam Museum department: Coins and Medals collection: Lester Watson Collection creditline: Given by Lester Watson through Cambridge in America, 2009 STABLE URL ---------- url: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/141354 TECHNIQUES ---------- struck CATEGORIES ------ category: medal DATING ------ creation date: 1869 - 1895 creation date earliest: 1869 creation date latest: 1895 CREATORS -------- maker: London maker: Victoria (1837-1901) maker: Wyon, Leonard Charles maker: Victoria regina DIMENSIONS ---------- dimension: Diameter units: mm value: 36.3 dimension: Weight units: g value: 39.5 CITATIONS -------- British Battles and Medals 7th edn British and other Campaign and Gallantry Medals From the Collection of Lester Watson (d. 1959) --- IMAGES surrogate: large format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0143_281_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 153 pixels surrogate: mid format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0143_281_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 153 pixels surrogate: original format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0143_281_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 153 pixels surrogate: preview format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0143_281_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 153 pixels surrogate: large format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0143_282_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 149 pixels surrogate: mid format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0143_282_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 149 pixels surrogate: original format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0143_282_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 149 pixels surrogate: preview format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0143_282_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 149 pixels