Serbian Order of the White Eagle (4th Class)

Serbian Order of the White Eagle (4th Class). Unnamed as issued. Obverse: A double headed silver/gilt eagle enameled white, bearing an oval shield with a white cross on a red ground and a fire-steel in each quarter. Above are crossed swords and a crown that has blue enameled ribbons. Reverse: The date '1882' in an oval with a red background. The medal is fitted with a loose ring suspender above the crown and a piece of 37 mm red ribbon that has pale blue side stripes. A rosette of red and pale blue is stitched to the front of the triangular folded ribbon.

King Milan I of Serbia instituted the Order of the White Eagle on 23 January 1883. Serbia had been proclaimed a Kingdom on 22 February 1882. In 1903, King Peter I altered the reverse of the medal by placing the year of the proclamation of the Kingdom (1882) on it instead of the previous cipher of Milan I. The Order also had a War Merit Division, with crossed swords between the Royal Crown and eagle's heads, that was introduced in 1915, and conferred on officers for conspicuous bravery in the field.

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.