IDENTIFIERS ----------- id: 141532 accession number: CM.1438-2009 DATE AUDIT ---------- created: Saturday 6 August 2011 updated: Monday 15 January 2024 DESCRIPTIVE DATA ---------------- object type: The history of the British presence in South Africa is inextricably bound up with that of the Basuto and Zulu tribes whom it displaced. A series of shaky and short-lived accommodations with the various polities that made up the African kingdoms meant that the borders between the zones were never entirely free from conflict. Between 1877 and 1879 a number of particularly difficult punitive expeditions were mounted by the British authorities, and in 1880 a medal was sanctioned for these that was a new issue of that for the campaigns of 1834-1853 with a slightly modified reverse design. Particularly demanding were the attacks of the Galeka and Gaika tribes on a protected people, the Fingos. The campaigns against the insurgent peoples lasted some eight months from 1878 into 1879 and involved, as well as extensive local forces, contingents of both the British Army and the Royal Navy serving ashore. The conflict, which became known as the Ninth Kaffir War, ended in the annexation of the Transkei, home of the Galeka peoples, to the Cape Colony. With this settled the attention of those forces not embroiled in the developing conflict with the Zulus was turned to a Basuto tribe in the Transvaal the Bapedi of Chief Sekukuni, whose raids from a supposedly impregnable fortress had now begun to affect tribes under British protection. An initial sally against him in late 1878 having proved ineffective, a larger force was sent in November 1879 and quickly overran the fortress. The defenders were killed almost to a man, largely by African soldiery. This medal was awarded to Private F. Bird of the 80th Foot, who seems to have joined the war against the Zulus once the Galekas and Gaikis were temporarily pacified. Lester Watson purchased his medal from the London dealers Spink at some point before 1928. title: South Africa General Service Medal NOTES ----- type: history note value: Gift of L. Hoyt Watson; ex Lester Watson Collection, bt Spink 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/141532 TECHNIQUES ---------- struck CATEGORIES ------ category: medal DATING ------ creation date: 1880 - 1881 creation date earliest: 1880 creation date latest: 1881 CREATORS -------- maker: London maker: Wyon, Leonard Charles maker: Wyon, William maker: Victoria (1837-1901) maker: Victoria regina DIMENSIONS ---------- dimension: Diameter units: mm value: 36.4 dimension: Weight units: g value: 39.88 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_0321_281_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 120 pixels surrogate: mid format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0321_281_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 120 pixels surrogate: original format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0321_281_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 120 pixels surrogate: preview format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0321_281_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 120 pixels surrogate: large format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0321_282_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 114 pixels surrogate: mid format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0321_282_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 114 pixels surrogate: original format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0321_282_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 114 pixels surrogate: preview format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0321_282_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 114 pixels