Defence of the British Legation, Addis Ababa 1936, large silver medal, 53 mm, the obverse with struck inscription ‘Presented to the British Legation Guard by the British Communities at Addis Ababa to commemorate services rendered 2nd to 6th May 1936’, the reverse with struck Arabic inscription and additionally engraved with recipient’s details ‘7592 L/D Bakhshish Singh’, with ring for suspension, good very fine, rare £800-1000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Bill and Angela Strong Medal Collection.

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Collection

Approximately 156 of these medals were awarded to members of the British Legation Guard for services rendered during the outbreak of armed violence and rioting during May 1936 which preceded the occupation of Addis Ababa by Italian forces. The majority of the military personnel, including Lance-Daffadar Bakhshish Singh, belonged to the 5-14th Punjab Regiment, but there were, in addition, 1 Duffadar and 8 Sowars of the 8th Light Cavalry, and four members of the Indian Medical Service. With some copied research.