Naval General Service Medal 1793 - 1840 : Private G Goahagan, Royal Marines

Naval General Service Medal 1793 - 1840 with the bar Trafalgar. The recipients name is impressed in Roman capitals on the edge. Obverse: The diademed head of Queen Victoria and the legend 'VICTORIA REGINA' with the date '1848'. Reverse: The figure of Britannia, holding a trident, seated sideways on a seahorse. The designer's name 'W Wyon' is under the neck and on the rear exergue. The medal is fitted with a 34 mm white ribbon that has dark blue edges.

Awarded to Private George Goahagan, Royal Marines, for service at the Battle of Trafalgar in HMS Belleisle, on 21 October 1805. Bellisle was a 74 gun third rate ship of the line, captained by William Hargood. At the Battle of Trafalgar she was the only British ship to be totally dismasted and lost 33 dead and 93 wounded. The Naval General Service Medal was originally intended to cover the period 1798 to 1815 but was later extended to include the period to 1840. 1,710 Trafalgar bars were issued to officers and men who served during the major fleet action off Cape Trafalgar between the British fleet of Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson with 27 ships-of-the-line and the Franco-Spanish fleet of Vice-Admiral Villeneuve with 33 ships-of-the-line. Lord Nelson was mortally wounded during the engagement but he effectively destroyed the Franco-Spanish fleet. 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 of 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.