Can anyone identify this?

MikeW · 15 September 2002, 11:17 AM

I know it's not quite aviation, but it is WW1 related - This large (5" diameter) medallian was presented to my Grandmother when her first husband (not my Grandfather) was killed.

Private Cornelius Chapman was a member of the PBI and died in 1917 at Arras.

Can anyone tell me exactly what it is, I have not been able to find anything like it on the web?

MikeW · 15 September 2002, 11:30 AM

It's OK solved it myself with a search on the words "He died for freedom and honour".

It's variously described as a Memorial Medal, Medallion, or Plaque.

Graeme · 15 September 2002, 01:24 PM

Mike

I think it was also known as the "Death Penny" being about the same size as the old 1d piece. Unfortunately, I've had a hard-disk failure just recently and some of my old files are "no longer withus" so I'm speaking from memory.

Graeme

AOK4 · 15 September 2002, 09:56 PM

Hello,

such "medallions" were given to the next of kin of British soldiers that were killed during ww1.

Greetings from Flanders,

Jan

MikeW · 16 September 2002, 10:39 AM

Thanks Guys,

Graeme - it's much larger that an old penny, being almost 5 inches in diameter, cast in bronze, with the deceased's name cast in.

Condolences re your hard drive - I suggest a CD Burner should find its way onto your Christmas list - you can back-up 700M of data in 1 hit!

Mike

MilesC · 16 September 2002, 01:27 PM

This medallion certainly wasn't given to all the widows, mothers, etc. of men killed in the trenches. There wasn't that much bronze in England.

Miles

AOK4 · 16 September 2002, 10:30 PM

Hello,

I couldn't remember how these things were called and found it today.
I can suggest the following link if you want to know everything about these plaques (of which some 1,150,000 were issued): http://freespace.virgin.net/webmaster.tbl/page160.html

Hope this helps,
Jan

MikeW · 17 September 2002, 11:44 AM

Thanks Jan,

the link was very helpful

Miles,

its definitely bronze, you can see some verdigris on the scan!

Mike

Michael · 20 September 2002, 08:44 AM

They were given to the next-of-kin of all British, Dominion and Colonial servicemen and women who died during (and after the War up to about 1922).

They are rare to Indian and African units, and I seem to recall that the 9th Gurkha Rifles (I think) melted theirs down and cast a memorial bell which still exists at the Regimental Centre.

Canadians also received a silver memorial cross IF they were survived by a wife or mother or both. If not, they just received the plaque.

Graeme · 22 September 2002, 12:59 PM

Mike

I've checked my old notes and what I had was a reference to a half-size version of the Death Plaque. This was 22mm in diameter and 3mm thick (about the size of the old penny and hence the name "Death Penny").

Apparently the plaque was issued to the next of kin of all British and Commonwealth soldiers who died in the Great War.

Graeme

PS - Thanks for the condolences re the hard drive. Most of the files seem to have escaped relatively unscathed but I'm having to go through each to try and spot any obvious gaps. So far only a handful of Military Cross citations seem to have gone AWOL but the file on Mentions in Despatches looks decidedly dodgy.

As if that's not bad enough, I can't scan in the stuff I'd already printed out 'cos the scanner's gone loopy! Still, what elase is there to do on cold, dark nights?