Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

School of Military Engineering Fowke Medal, high relief bust of Fowke facing left (Second-Lieutenant T. E. Morgan, R.E. 1939), 58mm., silver, in Royal Mint case of issue, ref: B.H.M.2940, Eimer 1581, extremely fine, scarce £150-200

The Fowke’s Medal was established by the officers of the School of Military Engineering, Chatham and awarded in memory of Francis Fowke, as an annual architectural prize, ‘to the officer who specially distinguished himself in the construction course, and also to the non-commisioned officer or sapper who acquired distinction in the Department of Estimating and Construction’. The medal was first awarded in 1872.

Captain Francis Fowke, Royal Engineers and architect (1823-65) was designer of the Museum of Science and Art in Edinburgh; planner of the buildings in the International Exhibition of 1862 and was largely responsible for the design of the Royal Albert Hall, London.

Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Ellis Morgan was born in 1919. Gaining a B.Sc. in Engineering, he entered the Royal Engineers as a 2nd Lieutenant in 1939 and attained the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in 1961. During the period 1962-65 he was Senior Military Officer and Technical Staff Officer Grade 1 at the Chemical Defence Experimental Establishment at Porton, Wiltshire. For his military services he was awarded the M.B.E.