The Madagascar Medal ( 2nd Expedition
1895 )
Medaille de Madagascar ( 2ème Expedition 1895 )
Instituted on the 15th January 1896 for award to the the
soldiers and sailors of the second French expeditionary force to
Madagascar, who served between 8th December 1894 and 31st October
1896. A silver medal of 30mm diameter, the obverse depicts the
figure of la Republique wearing an ornate winged visor helmet. The
engravers signature " O. Roty " is in the bottom left quadrant.
The reverse shows the inscription " Madagascar" over a trophy of arms with
the date " 1895 " under. The medal was always issued with its
distinctive silver 1895 date bar. Ribbon: horizontal stripes of
equal widths of light blue and green.
The 15 thousand strong expedition's goal was the pacification of the
island which took a year to complete and was notable for the large
number of casualties due to sickness and disease. |