Cape of Good Hope General Service Medal : Private D Roberts, Prince Alfred's Volunteer Guard

Place Africa: South Africa, Cape Colony
Accession Number RELAWM14708
Collection type Heraldry
Object type Medal
Physical description Silver
Place made United Kingdom
Date made c 1901
Description

Cape of Good Hope General Service Medal with the bar 'BECHUANALAND'. The recipient's rank, name and unit are engraved on the edge. Obverse: The bust of Queen Victoria wearing a veil and a small crown, with the legend, 'VICTORIA REGINA ET IMPERATRIX'. Reverse: The arms of Cape Colony with the legend, 'CAPE OF GOOD HOPE' around the top circumference. The medal is fitted with a straight suspender and a single rectangular campaign bar. A piece of 33 mm dark blue ribbon with a broad sandy yellow stripe down the centre is attached to the suspender.

History / Summary

Awarded to Private D Roberts of Prince Alfred's Volunteer Guard (PAVG) ,who was part of the force commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Dalgety, of the Cape Mounted Rifles, to suppress a native revolt in Bechuanaland between December 1896 and July 1897. The medal was authorised by the Cape of Good Hope Government with the approval of Queen Victoria in December 1900. 138 medals with this bar were issued to the PAVG. 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.