Vol. 64, No. 3 (May-June 2013) 11

Henry Blakiston Wilkins of the American Red Cross. His elaborate 10 x 15 inch brevet (certificate) is shown in Figure 14, with my translation given in Figure 15. The location of his medal is unknown. Wilkins (1871-1940) lived in Italy from 1913-1935, and started his World War I service as an officer in the Italian Red Cross.18 Transferring into the American Red Cross by 1918, he also received the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus. He became a museum curator for the Library of Congress, 1935-1940.

THE AVM AWARDED TO COLONIAL TROOPS

A completely different obverse die was cut for silver and bronze AVMs intended for non-Italian colonial troops. The obverse bears the crowned image of King Victor Emmanuel III (Figure 16). Between the

Figure 16: Obverse of the AVM issuedto colonial troops.

Figure 15: Translation of the certificate in Figure 14.

12 JOMSA

King’s shoulder and the rim at 7 o’clock is the die cutter’s name SPERANZA. Scandaluzzi2 described an earlier version with the crowned bust of King Humbert I (also marked SPERANZA at the same location), but did not have a date of issue for either version. Filippo Speranza succeeded Giuseppe Ferraris as Chief Engraver at the Royal Mint from 1870-1903.4

The reverse (Figure 17) retains the simple wreath of the traditional AVM and is.engraved DAUD HASSEN // SCIRE 3 MARZO 1936 - XIV. The Roman number XIV indicated the 14th year of the Fascist regime which took over the Italian government in 1922. Scire was the site of a major battle (February 29 to March 2, 1936) in the Italian conquest of Ethiopia. The Italian Navy had a World War II submarine named Scire. This boat was one of a class of 17 submarines all named for colonial battles.19

Figure 17: Reverse of the AVM issuedto colonial troops.

CONCLUSION

The series of Al Valore Militare bravery medals have always been highly respected in Italy and by her Allies. When the engraved medals appear in the collectors’ markets, they typically bring strong prices. This article attempted to give the reader an overview of the long history and numismatic variety of the official coinage. Having collected and studied these medals for many years, much additional detail in my files had to be omitted from this concise article. The Royal issues of the AVM from 1920 to 1943 were omitted as the numismatics of the World War I medals were retained until the fall of the monarchy in 1943. Coverage of the Republic design of the AVM after 1943 would constitute another full article.

Endnotes:

1. Harold E. Gillingham. Italian Orders of Chivalry and Medals of Honor, originally published 1923 by theAmerican Numismatic Society, reprinted 1967 by L.L. Babin, pages 46-51.

2. Franco Scandaluzzi. Ordini Equestri Medaglie e Decorazioni Italiane, privately published in Italy 1962, pages 20-27.

3. The Italian government website is www.quirinale.it Click on the onorificenze icon for details of the current system of Italian awards. There is a search page where an Italian name can be checked for a possible decoration.

4. Elvira E. Clain-Stefanelli. Italian Coin Engravers Since 1800 Washington: Government Printing Office, 1965, pages 44-45.

5. Edgar Holt. Risorgimento: The Making of Italy 1815-1870. New York: Atheneum, 1971, pages 159-163.

6. James Barbary. The Crimean War. New York: Hawthorn Books, 1970, pages 151-152.

7. John Seley. Balaclava - A Gentlemen’s Battle. New York: Atheneum, 1970, pages 202, 217-223.

8. Major L.L. Gordon. British Battles and Medals, 5th Edition pages 132-134. Also, D. Hastings Irwin. War Medals and Decorations, 4th Edition. London: 1910, pages 507-512.

9. List of the Officers and Men Selected to Receive the 400 War Medals for Military Valor presented by H.M. the King of Sardinia. London: His Majesty’ Stationery Office, 1857. This list appends the 50 citations for the Royal Navy and Royal Marines.

10. Gobert’s extensive biography was contained in his “Etat des Services” on file in the French Army Archives in Vincennes, France. The archives contain files on 19th century French officers, but have no records on enlisted men. My thanks to Michel Gontier for obtaining these copies during a rare “window of opportunity“ at the archives.

11. Margrave, Anthony R., “The Sardinian Medal ’Al Valore Militare’ awarded to French Crimean war veterans,” Honneur et Patrie (the former newsletter of the French section of OMSA), Vol. 6, No. 3, October

1997, pages 1-8. Also Vol. 7, No. 1, February 1998, pages 33-35.12. Margrave, Anthony R., “France and the Risorgimento: The

Unification of Italy 1815-1870”, Honneur et Patrie, Vol. 7, No. 3, October 1998, pages 25-29.

13. Sweetman, Jack, “The Medaille d”Italie 1859,” The Medal Collector, Vol. 15, No. 8, August 1964, pages 1-3.

14. E-mail from “ilelifton”, May 3, 2009, on the Gentleman’s Military Interest Club, a website in the United Kingdom. He did not quote his source for these totals, but I have no reason to question them.

15. Mick and Lyn Dalzell, The Italian Al Valore Militare - Bronze and Silver 1917-1920. London: published privately, 1992.

16. Squillace’s military biography appears in the Enciclopedia Militare. Milano: Instituto Editoriale Scientifico, 1933. My thanks to Nicola Zotti for providing this information.

17. John T. Mock, editor. Imperial Russian Awards 1916-1920 - St. George’s Cross 4th Class and St. George’s Medal 4th Class - Naval Recipients. Bristol, 1993.

18. The National Cyclopedia of American Biography, Volume XLII, pages 148-149, Ann Arbor, Michigan: University Microfilms, 1967.

19. Conway’s All the World’s Fighting Ships 1922-1946. United Kingdom: Conway Maritime Press, 1980, pages 309-310.

20. Annuario Militare del Regno d’Italia - Anno 1929 (VII). Vol. I, Part 1. Rome, 1929, page 414. My thanks to Vincenzo Arno for sending me this biography

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Vol. 64, No. 3 (May-June 2013) 13

Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, was the creation of a private company. British commercial explorers pushed up into the unexplored and unexploited country north of the Limpopo River and the Transvaal Republic during the mid to late 1880s. These men, who were to challenge and eventually defeat the native Matabele, Shangan, Ndbele and Shona tribes for control of the territory, worked for Cecil John Rhodes and his British South Africa Company. This chartered company was founded by Rhodes to explore and settle southern and central Africa. Granted a Royal Charter in 1889 the Company pacified and occupied a vast tract of land between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers. Administered by the Company on behalf of the Crown, the territory was named “Rhodesia” in 1895 in honour of the Company’s founder.

In 1911 Rhodesia became Southern Rhodesia. This change in name was designed to differentiate the Company’s fiefdom from the newly formed colony of Northern Rhodesia, north of the Zambezi. Company rule ended in 1923 when Southern Rhodesia became a self-governing British colony. The two Rhodesias and the Protectorate of Nyasaland were joined together in the ill-fated Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland in 1953. When this Federation fell apart in 1963 Nyasaland became Malawi and Northern Rhodesia became Zambia.

The word “Southern” was dropped from the name of the country in 1965. In the same year the government of Rhodesia issued a unilateral declaration of independence (UDI) from Britain. UDI was declared to ensure continued white minority rule and was followed in 1970 by the declaration as a republic. Not only was Rhodesia’s declaration of independence regarded as illegal by Britain, the Commonwealth and the United Nations, it was actively resisted by various local movements dedicated to the overthrow of the white minority regime and its replacement by an African dominated multi-racial regime. This resistance eventually led to the so-called “Bush War.”

The Bush War was fought between the Rhodesian Security Forces (RSF) on the one hand and the military arms of the two dominant African nationalist movements on the other hand. The latter were the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) which was represented in the field by the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army

(ZANLA) and the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU) which was served in the military sphere by the Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA). Although Rhodesia received active political, military and economic support from the neighbouring Republic of South Africa for a while in the 1970s, for most of the war it was a purely Rhodesian affair.

While Rhodesia adapted to economic and political sanctions in a way that can only be described (no matter what your political views) as magnificent and the RSF attained a level of professionalism and military competence which was truly awesome, the war was never winnable for Rhodesia. The Rhodesians were forced to the negotiating table in 1979. This led in the end to the dissolution of the white minority government and of Rhodesia itself and saw the eventual creation of the Republic of Zimbabwe.

The forgoing was a very brief summary of the history of Rhodesia and was designed to give the reader some background to the main focus of this article: to introduce readers to the decorations, medals and awards of a nation which ceased to exist in 1980. Obviously the article will concentrate on the post-UDI period and the period before 1965 will only be touched on.

The British South Africa Company had awarded its own medals for campaigns in Mashonaland (1890 and 1897), Matabeleland (1893) and Rhodesia (1896). Although issued by a private company all of these medals had Royal approval and recipients, including serving British soldiers, were entitled to wear them on their uniforms. This issue of medals by private companies which received Royal assent and approval for unrestricted wear was to be repeated elsewhere in the Empire. The Cape Copper Company, the Royal Niger Company and the British North Borneo Company all issued medals for campaigns in their chartered territories and all of these medals were approved for unrestricted wear by all who earned them, including members of the British armed forces. And of course, these chartered companies all had the precedent of the fabulous John Company to follow. The Honourable East India Company had issued almost a dozen medals throughout its history to reward both its own Company troops and British troops for service on various campaigns on the sub-continent.

MEDALS OF THE BUSH WAR:RHODESIAN MEDALS AND AWARDS

GRAHAM WILSON