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Great Britain (United Kingdom) under King George V
British War Medal
1918 Silver Medal 48mm x 35mm (32.95 grams)
Reference: N# 73611 | Engraver: Sir Bertram Mackennal, W. McMillan
GEORGIVS V BRITT: OMN: REX ET IND: IMP:, Bareheaded King George V facing left.
1914 1918, Saint George naked on horseback and armed with a short sword, horse trampling Prussian eagle shield and skull and cross-bones. In background, ocean waves and just off-centre near the right upper rim is the risen sun of Victory Years on the perimeter in the left and right fields respectively.
EDGE LETTERING: 16873 PTE. C. SKILLER DORSET . R .
You are bidding on the exact item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity.
The British War Medal was instituted on 26 July 1919 for award to those who had rendered service between 5 August 1914, the day following the British declaration of war against the German Empire, and the armistice of 11 November 1918, both dates inclusive. Consideration was given to the award of clasps to commemorate certain battles and theatres of operations and some 68 clasps were proposed for Naval recipients and 79 for the Army. While the Naval clasps were authorised in August 1920, none were awarded and the idea was abandoned in 1923. Unlike the 1914 Star and the 1914–15 Star, the British War Medal could be awarded to all officers and men of British and Imperial forces who had served for a prescribed period during any stage of the war, or who had died on active service before the completion of this period. Eligibility for the award of the medal was subsequently extended to cover service in 1919 and 1920 in mine-clearing at sea as well as participation in operations in North and South Russia, the eastern Baltic region, Siberia, the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. The medal is a silver or bronze disk, 36 millimetres in diameter, with a straight clasp suspender without swivel. The medal was designed by W. McMillan and struck by the Royal Mint. The recipient’s name, rank, service number and unit are impressed on the bottom edge of the medal. On medals awarded to Army officers, with the exception of the Royal Artillery, the name of the regiment or corps was omitted.
 George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936.
He was the second son of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII), and the grandson of the reigning British monarch, Queen Victoria. From the time of his birth, he was third in the line of succession behind his father and his elder brother, Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale. From 1877 to 1891, George served in the Royal Navy, until the unexpected death of his elder brother in early 1892 put him directly in line for the throne. On the death of his grandmother in 1901, George’s father became King-Emperor of the British Empire, and George was created Prince of Wales. He succeeded his father in 1910. He was the only Emperor of India to be present at his own Delhi Durbar.
His reign saw the rise of socialism, communism, fascism, Irish republicanism, and the Indian independence movement, all of which radically changed the political landscape. The Parliament Act 1911 established the supremacy of the elected British House of Commons over the unelected House of Lords. As a result of the First World War (1914-18) the empires of his first cousins Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany fell while the British Empire expanded to its greatest effective extent. In 1917, George became the first monarch of the House of Windsor, which he renamed from the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha as a result of anti-German public sentiment. In 1924 he appointed the first Labour ministry and in 1931 the Statute of Westminster recognised the dominions of the Empire as separate, independent states within the Commonwealth of Nations. He was plagued by illness throughout much of his later reign and at his death was succeeded by his eldest son, Edward VIII.
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