|
Oval gilt metal badge with eyelet and scroll suspension bar, the face inscribed ‘KENT’, a pin for wear to the reverse; the face with a red enamel medallion with a white enamel Maltese cross, a lion between the arms upper left and lower right, a unicorn between the arms lower left and upper right, a gilt-edged white enamel circle below bearing a red enamel Geneva cross, all within a black-edged gilt border inscribed ‘ST JOHN • AMBULANCE • WAR • SERVICE’; the reverse plain, numbered ‘7583’; height overall 44.23mm (1.74 inches); slight surface marks. The badge was issued by the Order of St. John of Jerusalem in England and its format reflects the Joint War Committee established with the British Red Cross Society after the outbreak of World War I in 1914 to organise the efficient use of their joint resources to assist the wounded, displaced, destitute and prisoners of war and to help trace those missing in action. Those based in Kent were particularly active because of its close proximity to France and Flanders.
|
