India General Service Medal (1854-1895), with bar for Lushai 1889-92, awarded to Pvt. J. Mackey, 1893
Obverse, a bust of Queen Victoria |
Reverse, Victory crowning a seated Classical warrior with a laurel wreath |
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Obverse, a bust of Queen Victoria |
Reverse, Victory crowning a seated Classical warrior with a laurel wreath |
The Army of India Medal's issue in 1849 having marked the previous half-century's combats in the region, further conflicts in the 1850s led in 1854 to the design and issue of a General Service Medal for the theatre, for which bars would be issued as each new campaign merited.
Lushai is now a mountain district of modern India, but was not part of any large state for much of the nineteenth century, and its inhabitants not afraid to raid British India or attack local forts. This resulted in a series of five small expeditions into the area in 1889-1892, for which this bar was awarded to the troops involved.
This medal was awarded to Private J. Mackey, of the 4th Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps. Lester Watson purchased the medal from the London dealers Baldwin in 1927.