Serbian Retreat from Albania Medal

Serbian Retreat from Albania Medal. Unnamed as issued. Obverse: Obverse: A bronze centre of a bound laurel wreath with the bust of Prince-Regent Alexander facing left surrounded by the Serbian Cyrillic inscription 'Serbia Prince Regent Alexander'. This is superimposed on to a silver double headed Serbian eagle with folded wings. The entire medal is surmounted by a silver double sided crown on a hinged axis and a suspender ring. Reverse: A bronze centre of a laurel wreath surrounding an inscription in Cyrillic ['For the Albanian retreat 1915'] on four lines. Superimposed on a silver double headed Serbian eagle. A piece of 37 mm watered green ribbon with a black stripe near each edge is attached to the suspender ring.

Instituted on 5 April 1920 as a single class commemorative medal by Prince-Regent Aleksandar (later King Aleksandar 1) for the Albanian Campaign, and known as the Albanian Retreat Medal. It was awarded to all military personnel who took part in the retreat through Albania.
By the end of 1915 the Serbian Amy faced defeat, after being attacked from several sides by the Austro-Hungarian, German, Bulgarian and Turkish forces. Marshal Putnik ordered a retreat towards the South, through the Albanian Mountains, in direction of the Adriatic Coast. The army was then transported to the safety of the Greek islands and on to Salonika in Greece. This medal is part of a collection assembled by the late Hon. Sir Thomas Hughes, Member of the Legislative Council of New South Wales. It was presented to the Memorial in memory of his son, Captain Roger Forrest Hughes, Australian Army Medical Corps, who died of wounds in France on 11 December 1916 and his grandson, Flying Officer Peter Roger Forrest Hughes, 12 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, who was killed on active service while flying in the Northern Territory on 3 October 1942.