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Example of a three
clasp medal |
Three clasps |
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This page contains a description of the medal,
its history, numbers of
medals issued and some
market examples.
Description
This medal was instituted by Queen Victoria on the 4 December 1900 at the
request of the Cape of Good Hope authorities to mark several uprisings by
tribes in the Transkei, Basutoland and Bechuanaland that had spanned the
years 1880-1897.
The medal bears on the obverse the veiled and crowned Jubilee head of Queen
Victoria by Sir Joseph Boehm with the legend ‘Victoria Regina et Imperatrix.
The reverse has the arms of the Cape with the legend ‘Cape of Good Hope’.
The ribbon is dark blue with a broad central buff-yellow stripe. It was
intended the medal would be awarded with one or more of the three clasps
marking the geographical areas of the conflict, however a small number were
issued without a bar.
History
Transkei.
Awarded to all troops, mainly local units, employed in the field from the 13
September 1880 to the 15 May 1881 for operations in Griqualand East and
Tembuland. The dispute stemmed from the natives taking up arms against
settlers in the districts of Maclear, Matateile, Qumbu and Tsolo.
Basutoland.
The clasp was awarded for operations from the 13 September 1880 to 27 April
1881 and stemmed from the order to hand in firearms. Some tribes complied
and were then immediately attacked by their opponents. In September 1880
white officials were attacked and troops were mobilised to quell the
fighting. Colonel Carrington and Brigadier-General Clarke undertook
operations in the Mafeteng area and this concluded with an armistice in
February 1881. Skirmishing continued for off and on for a number of years
between 1882-1884 and eventually Basutoland was declared a Crown Colony in
March 1884.
Bechuanaland.
This clasp was awarded to the troops for operations which spanned the 24
December 1896 to the 30 July 1897. This uprising stemmed from an edict to
slaughter native livestock to prevent the spread of virulent cattle disease
in April 1896. The revolt rapidly gathered alarming momentum and the local
troops under Lt Colonel Dalgety were hard pressed to contain the uprising.
A large force was required to subdue the fighting and troops and volunteers
were mobilized for the Bechuanaland Field Force. Actions were fought at
Gamasep Kloof, Riet Kloof and finally at Langberg on the 30 Jul - 1 Aug 1897
before peace was restored.
Medals issued
In total 5,252 medals were awarded to a variety of locally raised, mainly
Cape units and in many cases the awards to individual units is extremely
small. No Imperial troops were involved in strength, although 22 awards
were made to British units, 19 to the 3/King’s Royal Rifle Corps, one to the
3/Royal Irish Fusiliers and two to the 7/Hussars.
A breakdown of medals and clasps awarded as
follows:
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(i) With bar ‘Transkei’ |
562 |
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(ii) With bar ‘Basutoland’ |
1,589 |
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(iii) With bar ‘Bechuanaland’ |
2,483 |
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(iv) With bars ‘Transkei’ & ‘Basutoland’ |
490 |
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(v) With bars ‘Transkei’ & ‘Bechuanaland' |
18 |
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(vi) With bars ‘Basutoland’ & ‘Bechuanaland’ |
77 |
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(vii) With all three bars |
23 |
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(viii) With no bar |
10 |
The following were authorised to receive the medal without clasp and this is
believed to have been an administrative error and some may have received a
bar with their award:
(i) Pte S R Daniel, Cape Mounted Rifles (CMR)
(ii) Cpl S K C Daly, Papkuil Rifles
(iii) C/Sgt V Ewers, Stutterheim Light Infantry Volunteers
(iv) Sgt W Haig, Duke of Edinburgh’s Own Volunteer Rifles (DEOVR)
(v) Pte H H Norton, CMR - Confirmed no bar award
(vi) Nurse G A Rodgers - Confirmed no bar award
(vii) Sp Pol A A Smith, Cape Police District 1 (CP D1)
(viii) Pte E G Smith, DEOVR
(ix) Sgt J Wilson, CMR – Confirmed no bar award
(x) Pte P A Williams, CMR – Confirmed no bar award-
The following received the medal with all three clasps:
(i) Dvr J Bobbins, Prince Alfred’s Own Cape Volunteer Artillery
(ii) Capt A L Chiapini, Cape Mounted Yeomanry (CMY)
(iii) Gnr E C A Coombs, Cape Field Artillery
(iv) Pte J Wirran, Nesbitt’s Light Horse (NLH)
(v) Sgt E H Dye, CP D1
(vi) Lt F W H Gillwald, CP D1
(vii) Surg-Maj E B Hartley VC CMR
(viii) Capt A N M Hutcheons, Wodehouse B Rovers
(ix) Pte J Lust, NLH
(x) Sapper R McArthur, Cape Town Volunteer Engineers
(xi) Sgt H McDonald, NLH
(xii) Tpe E McGuire, CMY
(xiii) Capt R McLean, Buffalo Volunteers
(xiv) Sgt-Maj C S March, Landrey’s Horse
(xv) Pte C Nielson, NLH
(xvi) Sgt T C Peakman, Cape Field Artillery
(xvii) Lt R Pillans, DEOVR
(xviii) Pte R Quine, Cape Town Rifles
(xix) L/Cpl T Rodwell, DEOVR
(xx) Pte S Strutt, NLH
(xxi) Pte A Turner, Ushers Contingent
(xxii) Sgt A J White, CMR
(xxiii) Pte W D Willemite, Cape Town Rangers
Market examples
