All the entente powers issued official victory medals to their combatants. As well as these official medals though, many towns and cities produced their own commemorative medallions, issued to school children, returning soldiers or to those who paid a small fee for them. These medals were usually made of base metal and unlike medals issued to soldiers by the government, few survive today as they were never valued in the same way. Today however we are looking at an example from the West Midland’s town of Willenhall. The town’s coat of arms are proudly displayed on one side of the medal:
The message around the edge reads, “To Commemorate the Termination of the Great War Commenced 4 Aug 1914, Armistice 11 Nov 1918, Peace Signed 28 June 1919.”
The reverse of the medal has a figure of Victory, standing on the globe, holding two laurel wreathes above two shields, one with the Union flag on it and the other with the Royal Standard:
Around the edge are the names of the different countries who fought on the Allied side.
This medallion is about 1 1/4″ across and is a little crude, however it does have a charm and is a remarkable survivor that is now a century old.
