1592963646000 1312637261000 Standard Record object-141390 1747245965686 1711380485000 1747245848565 adlib fitz-online adlib-object-141390 https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/141390 f35e7940-2793-3a34-8315-5c52115f2ed5 8 reference term-42993 adlib-term-42993 93884c6f-c60c-39f7-a75d-f84d65288fe0 medal reference term-122711 adlib-term-122711 1db96904-a474-3b61-a8e5-6c2d9dd557ab Lester Watson Collection Coins and Medals German strategy at the outbreak of the Great War relied on a rapid and crushing defeat of French forces to enable a response in force to the slower-moving threat of Russia on the Eastern Front. The extensive preparations of French defences however meant that for surprise and maximum effect such an attack would have to be delivered via neutral Belgium. Thus when the war began in 1914, one of the first German targets was the defensive complex around the Belgian town of Liège. Initial attacks on 5 August were driven off, despite Zeppelin bombing raids, but on 7 August German forces occupied the town, with infamous savagery. An outer ring of forts remained obdurate, however, for another ten days, being reduced one by one by the heaviest artillery available to the Germans without any hope of relief. In 1920 this heroic but vain defence was commemorated with the issue of the Médaille de Liège to all survivors from the defending forces by the town's mayor, Gustave Kleyer. This example bears no name, and its recipient is unknown. Lester Watson purchased it from the London dealers Baldwin in 1927. 82 reference exhibition-1967 adlib-exhibition-1967 6984c1c2-8fb8-37f2-bc1e-13468b4a0475 Imagery of War CM.1296-2009 1 accession number CM.1296-2009 141390 priref 141390 Watson Catalogue 199 ordering M-0179 previous object number LW.0179 uri https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/141390 https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/141390 Soldiers amid shattered defences obverse LA VILLE DE LIEGE A SES VAILLANTS DEFENSEVRS design Liège War Memorial against star and foliate backgrounds reverse design reference agent-149638 adlib-agent-149638 7376d833-d0a7-3be0-916e-9c892b7a24d8 The Fitzwilliam Museum Given by Lester Watson through Cambridge in America, 2009 reference agent-206432 adlib-agent-206432 e0b1da8e-f9e4-30be-9257-f82c89d45afb Watson, Lester 2009 2009 2009 given on loan to the Fitzwilliam Museum 2005-2009 1920 1920 1920 mint reference agent-174979 adlib-agent-174979 ac9956ce-701d-39af-929a-421229299db0 Liège issuer reference agent-174980 adlib-agent-174980 aaefd7f7-7157-3585-82ca-aa68b725e3c3 Kleyer, G. state reference agent-173761 adlib-agent-173761 d6e74d60-fa7a-3750-b965-4d92919e76b5 Belgium mint reference agent-191162 adlib-agent-191162 4ec52e12-adfd-35d2-85a8-e3e0a3e75649 Li�ge reference term-133894 adlib-term-133894 61ecc4a8-6cc7-316b-9cdd-b6e8f742ed16 Li�ge reference term-40365 adlib-term-40365 d79c75c2-da7b-3187-918e-f7a374e04005 bronze Diameter mm 34 Weight g 17.46 reference media-116331 adlib-media-116331 f788d7b3-59cd-3dc0-836e-5f3b6cb49eed jpeg cm/cm15/LW_0179_281_29.jpg 1 height pixels 365 width pixels 159 1742589707833 1 image jpeg cm/cm15/LW_0179_281_29.jpg 1 height pixels 365 width pixels 159 1742589707833 1 image jpeg cm/cm15/LW_0179_281_29.jpg 1 height pixels 365 width pixels 159 1742589707833 1 image jpeg cm/cm15/LW_0179_281_29.jpg 1 height pixels 365 width pixels 159 1742589707833 1 image 0 media image reference media-116332 adlib-media-116332 c4319f4b-9530-3e39-b604-c80f7fe04983 jpeg cm/cm15/LW_0179_282_29.jpg 1 height pixels 365 width pixels 152 1742589736881 1 image jpeg cm/cm15/LW_0179_282_29.jpg 1 height pixels 365 width pixels 152 1742589736881 1 image jpeg cm/cm15/LW_0179_282_29.jpg 1 height pixels 365 width pixels 152 1742589736881 1 image jpeg cm/cm15/LW_0179_282_29.jpg 1 height pixels 365 width pixels 152 1742589736881 1 image 1 media image reference term-122918 adlib-term-122918 4a8589db-9efa-368d-9045-131032298b74 Médaille de Liège denomination reference term-98222 adlib-term-98222 b5ccc43a-7491-344e-b6ca-5df39a11c50e medals series reference term-108659 adlib-term-108659 cc732dec-4543-389e-a737-cf22bb7d2ee2 Military subseries reference term-107017 adlib-term-107017 6aa514b3-a68c-317d-b2fd-bed289f2e3fd Belgium subsubseries reference term-122917 adlib-term-122917 c0bcd244-5dc9-35bf-a696-bb23794ea0b5 Royal Army subsubsubseries history note Gift of L. Hoyt Watson; ex Lester Watson Collection, bt Baldwin 1927 reference agent-149638 adlib-agent-149638 7376d833-d0a7-3be0-916e-9c892b7a24d8 The Fitzwilliam Museum reference publication-5910 adlib-publication-5910 0d1d8526-5493-32bd-93b4-acd4cdcec7f9 British and other Campaign and Gallantry Medals From the Collection of Lester Watson (d. 1959)

reference term-122918 adlib-term-122918 4a8589db-9efa-368d-9045-131032298b74 Médaille de Liège

Médaille de Liège reference term-119622 adlib-term-119622 dd6626e9-5822-307d-aa31-13c8813e7555 struck object OBJECT