IDENTIFIERS ----------- id: 141599 accession number: CM.1502-2009 DATE AUDIT ---------- created: Saturday 6 August 2011 updated: Monday 29 April 2024 DESCRIPTIVE DATA ---------------- object type: The Order of St Anne was founded at Kiel by Duke Karl Friedrich of Holstein-Gottorp, son-in-law of the Russian Emperor Peter the Great and an exile at his court at the time. In 1796 the Order was incorporated with the Russian military orders. During the collapse of Tsarist Russia in the Revolution of 1917, a Provisional Government was briefly formed to represent the interests of government against the Bolshevik factions of the new order, and then various regional governments were formed in their wake, but what came to be classed as White Russian (as opposed to Red) resistance was eventually (by the end of 1918) crystallised around the Siberian Regional Government led by the Vice-Admiral Aleksandr Kolchak. Despite the death of not only Tsar Nicholas II in 1917 but Grand Duke Michael his notional successor in 1918, effectively ending the Romanov royal line in whose name they were given, Kolchak's government maintained the issue of royal decorations and orders until the final collapse of the White Russian resistance in 1921, by which time Kolchak, perhaps their most capable military leader, had been made to resign. This Badge is not named, but we know from its provenance that it was awarded to 2nd Lieutenant John Mitchell, of the Royal Air Force contingent that served in South Russia in support of British forces embroiled in the unsuccessful defence of White Russia, with whose other medals Lester Watson acquired it. Mitchell's endeavours in this theatre won him decorations both for military gallantry and life-saving actions from each of Britain and the White Russians. Although the catalogue of the Watson Collection considers Mitchell's awards as its Group 7, the medals of that group are not physically attached and so have been treated separately here. Nonetheless it was as a group that Lester Watson purchased them, from the London dealers Baldwin in 1928. title: Badge of the Order of St Anne, 2nd Class NOTES ----- type: history note value: Gift of L. Hoyt Watson; ex Lester Watson Collection, bt Baldwin 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/141599 TECHNIQUES ---------- struck CATEGORIES ------ category: medal DATING ------ creation date: 1919 - 1919 creation date earliest: 1919 creation date latest: 1919 CREATORS -------- maker: Russia DIMENSIONS ---------- dimension: Diameter units: mm value: 43.3 dimension: Weight units: g value: 20.89 CITATIONS -------- Handbook of British and Foreign Orders, War Medals and Decorations Awarded to the Ar 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_0365h_281_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 188 pixels surrogate: mid format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0365h_281_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 188 pixels surrogate: original format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0365h_281_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 188 pixels surrogate: preview format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0365h_281_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 188 pixels surrogate: large format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0365h_282_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 178 pixels surrogate: mid format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0365h_282_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 178 pixels surrogate: original format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0365h_282_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 178 pixels surrogate: preview format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0365h_282_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 178 pixels