|
Circular bronze medal with integral crown suspension; the face with a front-facing African lion seated on a rock, a hill beyond to the left, palm trees to the right, a radiant six-pointed star above, signed ‘A. Matton’ (for the sculptor and medallist Arsène Matton, 1873-1953); the reverse inscribed ‘KAMERUN OUESSO ASSOBAM MULUNDU JAUNDE AFRIQUE ORIENTALE ALLEMANDE KIGALI NYANSA UDJIJI USUMBURA BIARAMULO KITEGA ST MICHAEL TABORA’ imposed on a laurel branch, dated ‘1914’ and ‘1916’ above to either side of a five-pointed star; on replaced correct ribbon.
The Medal was instituted on 21 February 1917 and awarded to Belgian forces who engaged German troops in and around the latter’s African colonies of Cameroon, Tanganyika and South-West Africa. The names on the reverse are those of the territories and places where engagements occurred.
This is the first version of the medal; a second version bears the date ‘1917’ rather than ‘1916’.
The number of troops involved was small and the Medal is, as a consequence, rare.
|
