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May I suggest that you navigate the
site via the
index on page 01.
 PRIOR PAGE / NEXT PAGE
To search for specific text on this page, just press 'CTRL +
F' & then enter your search term. Test.
Each time I add more data to this site, I
have to decide exactly
where the new data is best to be placed. That decision is often not an easy one since the content of the pages often 'overlaps'.
Such is surely true re this subject - the various awards that were issued, mainly to the rescue fleet, re their efforts in
saving lives in October 1913.
The data that appears on this page is the contribution of Tony Jones, of North Wales, whose interest in the
whole subject is quite extraordinary. Tony, we thank you!
Now each of the pages re the vessels of the rescue fleet, already contains data about the medals that were
granted. My purpose with this page is not to duplicate that data, but present summary and descriptive
text to supplement the data already on site.
Tony Jones advises me that to his knowledge medals were issued by
7 separate organisations. But it would seem that there were medals also issued
by a German life saving society. And also medals were awarded by the French
Government to the officers and crew of La Touraine. So I now list 9 organisations and awards as follows:
1) The Sea Gallantry Medal, in two varieties, one for UK nationals and the other re 'foreign service'.
2) The Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society that issued 'Marine' Medals.
3) The Life Saving Benevolent Association of New York Medals.
4) The United States Congress Kroonland Medals.
5) The Lloyds's Medal for Saving Life at Sea.
6) The Royal Humane Society Medal.
7) The Quiver Medal.
8) The German Medals.
9) The French Medals.
An overall summary of the medals issued re the Volturno disaster.
A wonderful summary of all of the medals that were issued re the
Volturno has been prepared by Bernard de Neumann. It covers medals
listed above as items 1 through 7. And
appears on this site at page 44,
with Bernard's kind permission. I understand that Bernard is a member of the
executive committee of the 'Gallantry Medallists' League', and personally runs the
'Gallantry Awards List', a discussion group to
help descendents/relatives of gallantry award recipients from around the world find details of the particular
award.
The Sea Gallantry Medal - issued by the British Board of Trade.
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This surely is the most prominent medal of all unless the recipient served aboard the
Kroonland.
The Board of Trade
issued 'Medals for Gallantry in Saving Life at Sea' for a great many years. Certainly from 1854 through 1921. The medals
in fact, I learn were issued re British personnel, who as a result could add the letters 'SGM' after their names. And they were
issued also to 'foreign service' recipients.
On each of the vessel pages, is, I believe, a list of Sea Gallantry medals awarded to members of that particular vessel. Those
lists generally originated with Tony Jones, and I will not repeat the detail here.
Bernard de Neumann has an extensive study re the SGM, available
here.
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Images of more actual SGM medals are on pages
91 &
66.
There is a superb example on page
80 also. The image at left is courtesy of Tony Jones.
And we now have another very fine image of a Sea Gallantry Medal (foreign service) on site page
71.
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I learn that the Sea Gallantry Medal was instituted in
1855 by Parliament
under the terms of the Merchant Shipping Acts of 1854 & 1894. The 1854 Act
made provision for monetary awards for life saving at sea but with the creation
of this award that was no longer offered. It was originally issued by the Board of
Trade (& later by the Ministry of Transport) as a table medal 58mm or about 2¼
inches in diameter & came in bronze,
silver, or gold in two categories, for gallantry (where the rescuer's own life was risked)
& for humanity (where the risk to life was minimal). In 1903,
the award was changed in its format to a rather smaller medal for wear of 33mm in
diameter (1.27 inches) suspended by a bright red ribbon with narrow white edges (as is seen in
the image above). The medal
depicts a family on a storm-tossed shoreline reviving a drowning sailor, the
work, I understand, of artist Bernard Wyon.
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Since none of the images on site show
well that side of the medal well, I provide, at left above, a fine image of that face of an 1891 medal.
The reverse had an
image of the current reigning monarch, of course - in this case Queen Victoria. The information
above & the fine image at left above came from an e-Bay listing, re a medal which
sold in mid Sep. 2005, for GBP 145.89
or approximately $256.75. I trust that it is acceptable to feature it all on this non-profit
& informational site. I thank the
vendor, accordingly, his e-Bay site is
here. Do drop by! The medal was issued, I read,
to a crewman of the S.S. Siberian, in respect of the Sep. 24, 1891 wreck of the
schooner
Little Wonder of Fowey, however the name of the recipient engraved on the
rim had been long since removed. Details
of the awards granted re that incident were provided to the
vendor by another e-Bayer. But I added a name into that list & a little
additional detail into the text above per the data on another part of
this total site, specifically here.
Note however that the fine medals shown on page
80
&
71 of this site, issued
to seaman who were not British, has a very different image upon it. Presumably that was because it was
issued to a 'foreign service' recipient.
Here is the announcement that appeared in the 'London Times'
on Mar. 11, 1914 about the award of Sea Gallantry Medals etc.
The article was all in one continuous column. I made it into two columns for ease of viewing on this page. We thank Bernard de Neumann
for the item.
The Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society - Marine Medals.
What follows is a Report of the Society, at the time the
Volturno awards were granted.
An image of the front of an actual medal (bronze) is on page
91.
The London Times reported the presentation on Dec. 4, 1913 of LSHS medals
etc. to Captain Harnden & the crew of the Rappahannock (see site page 39)
& on Dec. 11, 1913
to Captain Barr & the crew of Carmania (see site page 39). And there were surely more
of such award ceremonies re other vessels of the rescue fleet.
And an image of both sides of such a medal is next, thanks to
Bernard de Neumann. I have read that the medal was designed by William Wyon (1795-1851), chief engraver at the Royal Mint
& from a family of well known medal engravers. We refer to Bernard Wyon
earlier on this page; presumably he was another member of the Wyon family.
In Feb. 2004, a silver such medal awarded to W. McCarthy, a fireman on the
S.S. Junin, for gallant service rendered on Aug. 5, 1924 at Antofagasta, Chile, was for sale
via e-Bay. Not in any way related to the Volturno, of course. But
my curiosity wondered what such a medal might be worth. It was bid to GBP
145.50 or approximately U.S. $275.60, with less than a day
to go. But the sale, it would seem was then aborted. To be re-listed maybe? Was that a representative value? I
just do not know.
A mid-Atlantic drama was played out on October 9th and 10th 1913, when the
“Volturno,” en route from Rotterdam for America with 93 hands and 561
passengers, encountered a full gale with a heavy sea and was discovered to be
on fire. She was finally abandoned. There were saved 63 of the crew and 458 of
the passengers, the losses being thus 30 officers and 103 passengers. The disaster befell with paralysing
speed. Only five minutes after discovery
of the fire, the flames – apparently by means of an explosion which blew off
the hatch – were shooting to a height of thirty or forty feet. Three later explosions destroyed the compass
and wrecked the steering-gear. The
society granted awards for gallantry in the rescue of fifty-nine of the
passengers. The steamer “Devonian,”
under Captain Alfred William Vincent Trant, was the first boat to get right
alongside. She received some damage, but
kept tight. Two boat-loads of women and
children were first taken aboard in coal-baskets. A third boat brought off eighteen male
passengers, other ships having taken the rest. All the officers and men who went out in the
lifeboats were volunteers. A Gold medal
and illuminated certificate of thanks were awarded to Captain Trant; a silver
medal, silver mounted barometer, and illuminated certificate each to Chief
Officer Thomas Steele, First officer Thomas Burdett Knight, and Second Officer
William H. Baker; a silver medal and certificate to Bo’sun Jacinto Navarro; and
a bronze medal, certificate and substantial money award to every one of the
fourteen other members of the life-boats crews. As an example of their mettle may be cited the conduct of Able-Seaman
Arthur Hazelwood, in Number five boat. A
frenzied woman on the Volturno with the intention of having her child caught by
those in the boat, threw it down; but it fell between the ship and the boat. Though in danger of being crushed between the
ship’s side and the boat, Hazelwood immediately jumped into the water and
grasped the child in his arms. With
great difficulty both were saved. Hazelwood received a silver medal.
The
steamship “Carmania,” under Captain James Clayton Barr, also figured in the
picture. Barr received the distress call
on Thursday morning, the 9th; and after sending wireless messages to
all vessels within call, crowded on full steam and with extra stokers made over
twenty knots an hour in the teeth of a raging gale, reaching the “Volturno” at
noon. Notwithstanding the gale, the
“Carmania,” with difficulty lowered a ship’s boat. This, in charge of First officer Francis
Gardner, made a futile but magnificent effort to get alongside the
“Volturno.” After two hours battering
and losing all but three oars (the rest being broken or torn from the crews
hands) the boat had to return to the “Carmania.” Barr received the society’s
gold medal and illuminated certificate; Gardner a silver medal, a similar
certificate and a silver mounted barometer; the silver medal and certificate
were given to Chief Officer Robert John Johnstone and Able-Seamen William
Garvey and E. J. Heighway; and the bronze medal, certificate and a money award
to each of the other nine in the life-boat, for their brave endeavour.
For
courage on the same occasion, awards were made also to members of the steamship
“Rappahannock,” the gold medal and illuminated certificate going to Captain
Frederick John Harnden, who was a hundred and sixty miles away when he received
the call but arrived on the scene in ten hours. The first life-boat went out shortly after midnight in charge of Chief
Officer John O. Davies, but returned in three hours and a quarter reporting
that it was dangerous in the heavy sea to approach within fifty feet of the
“Volturno,” and that the passengers on board, about four hundred, appeared too
frightened to jump and trust in being picked up, though all had lifebelts
on. At six o’clock in the morning the
boat went again and succeeded in saving fifteen women and four children, all of
whom were in a most pitiful state. These
women had to climb down a rope from the ship’s deck being caught as they came
down. The carpenter of the
“Rappahannock,” George Hendrick Olaveson, climbed up the rope and on to the
burning ship and brought down into the boat a ten-months-old child, the baby on
the ship’s passenger list. After all
possible rescues had been effected, eleven steamers scattered and searched over
a wide area of the sea for further survivors, bodies, boats, but none was
found. Davies who had stood in the boat
for hours , received a silver medal, illuminated certificate and silver mounted
barometer; Bo’sun John Henry J. Barker, Olaveson and Donkeyman William Pyne,
silver medals and certificates; and bronze medals, certificates and money
grants were awarded to the other five of the boat’s crew, who had not even
taken lifebelts, as these would have hindered the rescue work!
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The Life Saving Benevolent Association of New York - Medals.
What follows is a Report of the Society, at the time the awards were granted. The actual
gold medal that was
awarded to Max Spangenberg, Captain of the Grosser Kurfürst is visible on page
70.
And an image of the bronze medal issued to boatswain Barker of
Rappahannock, (seemingly called a 'pin') is on page
91. Please note that the number of survivors
landed by the various vessels, as listed below, does not conform with the data I have listed on page
32.
The biggest error would seem to be the number saved by Devonian
where the lower Report text lists numbers which total 59.
But here I am happy to present a superb image of both sides of the bronze medal or pin, the image being
of the medal awarded to Heinrich Schröder (or Schroder as they spelled it) of the Grosser Kurfürst. You can find data about Heinrich on site page
71.
British Steamship “Volturno,” Captain Inch from Rotterdam October 2nd,
for New York via Halifax, was abandoned on fire in latitude 48 deg. 25 min.
North, 34 deg. 33 min. West. The
wireless called the steamships “Carmania,” “Czar,” “Devonian,” “Narragansett,”
“Rappahannock,” and “Seydlitz” to her assistance. A heavy storm prevailed, which prevented the
rescuing ships from operating their boats to advantage until the morning of the
10th, when the boats succeeded in taking off the survivors. Many of the saved were rescued from the water
by the crews of the steamers. The tank
steamer “Narragansett” assisted materially in the rescue by spreading oil on
the heavy sea. The “Volturno’s”
passengers and crew numbered 637 (should read 657, the webmaster thinks), of whom all but 162 were accounted for. The fire broke out in No. 1 hold on the 9th
October and all efforts to extinguish it were made.
The rescuing ships made all
possible efforts to save life. The
“Grosser Kurfurst” had one of her boats out for six or more hours, in the
height of the storm, and when it was picked up by the steamer the crew was
exhausted and all of the oars with the exception of one were broken. The great loss of life was mainly owing to
attempts to leave the burning steamer, for as fast as a boat was lowered it was
smashed by the heavy seas that prevailed at the time.
The following is a list of
the number of persons saved by each steamer:-
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"CARMANIA" |
1 passenger. |
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"SEYDLITZ" |
29 passengers. |
16 crew. |
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"GROSSER KURFURST" |
83 passengers. |
23 crew. |
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"KROONLAND" |
74 passengers. |
14 crew. |
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"MINNEAPOLIS"
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30 passengers. |
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"LA TOURAINE"
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39 passengers. |
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"RAPPAHANNOCK"
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19 passengers. |
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"DEVONIAN"
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39 passengers. |
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"CZAR"
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99 passengers. |
2 crew. |
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"NARRAGANSETT"
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27 passengers. |
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---- |
--- |
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440 |
55 |
The
following are accounts made by several of the steamships that took part in the
rescue:-
“DEVONIAN”
At about
10:30 a.m. the wireless operator acquainted me with the fact that a steamer
called the “Volturno” was on fire and in distress. He had gathered the information from messages
passing between other ships, amongst them the “Carmania.” I sent a message to the “Carmania” asking for
information thus: “What is the matter
with the ‘Volturno’? Can we render any
assistance?”
At 9:45 p.m.
A.T.S. (apparent time at ship) in lat. 48 deg. 1 min. North, 37 deg. 40 min.
West, I received a message from the “Carmania” that she was standing by the
“Volturno” on fire – two boats were adrift with passengers – and giving the
position. The “Devonian’s” course was
altered towards the position given about 130 miles away; orders were sent to
the chief engineer to make all speed possible.
The weather was a fresh N.W. gale and high sea and
the ship was rolling heavily. At 5:15
p.m. in answer to an inquiry sent asking what the situation was, the “Carmania”
replied that she had seen nothing of the missing boats and was preparing to
take the people off the “Volturno.” Two
German steamers were also standing by (the “Seydlitz” and “Grosser
Kurfurst”). We had also in company with
us the “Minneapolis” and “La Touraine” steaming towards the “Volturno.”
At 9:15 p.m.
the “Volturno” was sighted with five steamers standing by (“Carmania,” “Grosser
Kurfurst,” “Seydlitz,” “Kroonland” and “Minneapolis”). The weather was still a strong N.W. wind and
heavy sea running with squalls of rain. At 10:10 p.m. as the “Devonian” drew up to the burning ship the engines
were slowed; she was found to be blazing fiercely from forward to abaft and
bridge; a short time previous to the “Devonian’s” arrival a violent explosion
had taken place; a shower of rockets had also been noticed.
At 10:25
p.m. the “Devonian” was close under the “Volturno’s” lee and pitiful cries were
heard coming from her. No. 3 lifeboat
was lowered and sent away in charge of Chief Mate Thomas Steele and the
following crew: F. Bailey, Bo’sun’s
mate; J. Rossiter and W. Fletcher, quartermasters; W. Potter, Arthur Hazelwood,
E. Cunningham and W. Brown, able bodied seamen.
The
“Devonian,” when the boat was nearly clear on her way, steamed around to a
position to windward of the “Volturno” to be handy to pick the boat up when she
returned.
October 10th,
at 0:30 a.m., an empty boat was seen on the starboard side, and immediately
afterwards a man was heard crying out in the water. With great difficulty he was got on board,
ordinary seaman J. H. Price showing great pluck in going down the ladder into
the water and putting a rope around the man, who was in an unconscious
condition. The doctor revived him and he
was found to be a passenger from the burning ship. At 1:00 a.m. the boat returned with the crew
in an exhausted condition. The Chief
Officer reported he was unable to get alongside the “Volturno” on account of
the heavy sea and the rolling of the vessel and also there were no lights about
her aft end. He had saved one man, who
had lowered himself down with a rope into the water but he had failed to induce
others to do so. The rescued man was
given every attention and was found to be a passenger. At 2:00 a.m., when attempting to hoist No. 3
boat in order to steam around to leeward
to launch her again, she was swamped and stove in on the ship’s side and broke
adrift. Her crew were got on board
safely but with great difficulty. The
weather now was a fresh N.W. wind with a heavy sea still running.
At 3:00 a.m.
the “Devonian” steamed around and lay close under the “Volturno’s” stern (about
200 yards away) to be handy to get a boat away as soon as the sea moderated or
broke down. The fire in the “Volturno”
was not then burning so furiously and she appeared as though she would easily
last until daylight.
At 6:00 a.m.
early dawn the wind and sea were moderating. No. 5 lifeboat was lowered and sent away in charge of W. H. Baker, second
Mate, and the following crew: F. Bailey,
Bo’sun’s mate; E. Cunningham, W. Brown and Arthur Hazelwood, able bodied
seamen. The boat managed to get right
alongside the “Volturno” and was the first boat to do so; so she received some
damage but kept tight. She took in women
and children (I had instructed the officer to see that they came off first). The officer reported to me that the Captain and
officers of the “Volturno” did good work controlling the male passengers.
The “Devonian” steamed around and at 6:30 a.m. the
boat returned and the people taken on board by means of large coal baskets
without mishap.
At 6:40
a.m., the boat again left for the “Volturno” and returned with nine women and
children. At 7:26 a.m. she was back
alongside, the coal baskets working very well as a means of getting them on
board. Many boats were going to and from
the “Volturno” to other steamers by this time. I wish to note that these two boat-loads of women and children were
taken off before the oil steamer had poured any oil on the sea. She arrived some time after 7:00 a.m.
At 7:40 a.m.
the boat again left for the burning vessel in charge of first Mate T. B. Knight
and the following crew: J. Navarro,
Bo’sun; W. Bailey, Bo’sun’s mate; W. Walsh, lamp trimmer; J. Souter, 5th engineer; W. Fletcher and L. O’Neill,
2nd Mates; J. Brown and Chris
Woods. The boat returned a little after
8:00 a.m. with 18 male passengers. The
remaining survivors had been taken off by the other ships assisting.
At 8:45 a.m.
the “Devonian” proceeded on her voyage.
Every care
and attention was given to the rescued people by the doctor and steward’s
department. They were given comfortable
quarters, a hot meal and many of the “Devonian’s” passengers and crew gave them
clothes.
I am glad to
report on the steady behaviour on the part of the whole crew during this
experience and more especially is praise due the officers and men who
volunteered to undertake the work in the boats.
The Second
Officer, W. H. Baker, made a special report to me of the plucky conduct of
Arthur Hazelwood, A.B. in No. 5 boat. When she was taking in women and children, a frenzied woman on board the
“Volturno” with the intention of having her child caught by those in the boat, threw
it down but it fell between the ship and the boat. Hazelwood at once jumped into the water and
grasped in his arms. He ran a great risk
of being crushed between the ship’s side and the boat. He and the child were got into the boat with
difficulty.
In all 20
women, 21 children and 18 men were saved from the “Volturno.” I also wish to pay tribute of praise to the
foreign-owned ships that took part in the rescue, especially the “Grosser
Kurfurst,” the “Czar” and the “Kroonland.”
The Captains
of the various steamers that assisted in making the rescue were each awarded a
Large Gold Medal, suitably inscribed.
The officers
who went in command of the life-boats were each awarded a Large Silver Medal,
suitably inscribed.
The members
of the crews that actually took part in the rescue were awarded a Bronze Medal
Pin and a sum of money.
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The United States Congress - Kroonland Medals.
Elsewhere in these pages, I mentioned that a Dallas Library
page, now long gone, stated that
"the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress
assembled" recognised the rescue efforts of the Captain and crew of the Kroonland. They would appear to have
specifically
honoured Captain Paul H. Kreibohm, & issued him an 'American-made solid gold dial watch and chain',
and one of four
(or five) gold medals. It would seem that an additional 34 medals were approved for issue to
Kroonland crew members. But were they issued? An image of one of the crew medals appears
low on page 76.
Tony Jones advises me as follows re these awards:
"The Kroonland Medal was
approved by Congress of the United States of America on 19th March
1914 on the recommendation of the Secretary of Commerce, for issue to the
Officers and Crew of the s.s. “KROONLAND”, for rescue work on the occasion of
the “VOLTURNO” disaster.
The medal is in Bronze, circular,
36mm in diameter, suspended from a three link double chain to a top bar bearing
the word ‘BRAVERY’ with an oval wreath horizontally placed thereon. The chain is made up of five links, the
centre link being more pronounced and proud.
The obverse has the figure
of COLUMBIA in classical costume, she stands holding a palm branch in her right
hand, her left arm is extended and in her left hand she holds a laurel wreath
extended towards a burning steamer and an open boat in a stormy sea, this
depiction itself within a further wreath; above:- S.S. VOLTURNO, below:-
October 9 – 10 / 1913.
The reverse has the words THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES TO THE
OFFICERS AND CREW OF THE S.S. KROONLAND (then there is a tablet for the
engraving of the recipient’s name) FOR
THE RESCUE OF SURVIVORS OF THE BURNING STEAMER VOLTURNO.
Forty KROONLAND medals were
issued to the Master and Crew of the s.s. “KROONLAND.” (A list of the recipients is on page
76).
In addition to the
KROONLAND MEDAL, the Master, Officers and Crew also received the SEA GALLANTRY
MEDAL (FOREIGN SERVICES). (A list of the recipients of the SGM is also on page
76). The Master,
also received a piece of plate.
Certain Officers and Crew
may have received other medals and awards, there is no evidence of this. What is certain is that none of them received
the LLOYD’S MEDAL FOR SAVING LIFE AT SEA, the LIVERPOOL SHIPWRECK & HUMANE
SOCIETY MARINE MEDAL, the ROYAL HUMANE SOCIETY MEDAL or the QUIVER MEDAL."
The Lloyd's Medal for Saving Life (at Sea) or possibly 'at Sea' - Medals.
I learn from Bernard de Neumann that Captain
Francis J. D. Inch, Master of the Volturno received a Lloyd's Silver Medal for Saving
Life (at Sea), and that both A. Hazlewood, Seaman of the Devonian and Edward J.
Heighway (see page
35), Seaman of the
Carmania received
the Bronze equivalent. That data may not, however be complete. It is possible
there were other recipients. And we have an image of a medal. Courtesy of Tony Jones.
The Royal Humane Society Medal
It would seem that there was only one recipient of this medal - Edward J. Heighway of the
Carmania. What
he did is set out with his photograph on the Walter Trentepohl page located at page
35 of this site.
The Quiver Medal
It would seem that there was only one recipient of the Quiver 'Heroes Medal' - Captain Francis
J. D. Inch of the Volturno. There
is a separate page re The Quiver Award & the magazine of that name, available on page
51.
And on that page is an image of a 'Quiver' Medal thanks to Tony Jones.
Thanks to Keith Mills, of
Swansea, Wales, &
his research at 'British Library Newspapers' in London, I learn that 'The Times', on Feb. 5, 1914, referred to the fact that
'Captain Francis Inch was presented with a Quiver medal by the Lord Mayor of London for bravery and devotion to duty during the
burning of the S.S. Volturno in the mid-Atlantic'.
The German Medals
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I learn that a German live saving
society, granted a cash award of
$2,000 to the lifeboat crews of Seydlitz & Grosser Kurfürst
& granted
gold & silver medals to the captains & officers of those & possibly other vessels also. As per the
text at left which appeared in the Calgary Herald newspaper of Calgary, Alberta, Canada on November 14, 1913. |
The above was for quite a while all that I knew about German medals.
I think now that the name of that German life saving society was 'Deutsche Gesellschaft zur Rettung
Schiffsbrüchiger (DGzRS)', a very long German established lifesaving society indeed, dating from 1865.
The name translates as 'German Society for the Rescue of the Shipwrecked'. Such data as I have about that Society can be seen
here.
Along with an image of a DGzRS medal. Can anybody provide
any further details? I do not think I know, however, the name by which the medals are known.
Since the above was written, however, more data has emerged, and it would seem that there
were two different
sets of German medals issued re the Volturno. Seaman Heinrich Schröder was awarded
medals re his actions in the Volturno disaster while a
crew member of the Grosser Kurfürst. The medal I will next show you would seem to have been awarded by the German
government rather than by a
life-saving society. The image shows both sides of the actual
Heinrich Schröder German medal, thanks to the photographic skills of Glenn
Frazee, grandson of Heinrich Schröder, later Henry Schroeder.
It is thought that the medal is 'The Prussian Medal of the Order of the Crown'
and that the giant letters are 'WR' which would stand for Wilhelmus
Rex (King Wilhelm or William in
Latin) since the Kaiser at the time was Wilhelm (of Kaiser Bill fame). You can
read about Heinrich at length on site page
71.
And read the origin of that medal identification.
An e-mail message from Mr. W. von Dille
in Nov. 2006, confirmed that the medal in fact is
Prussian - The Order of the Crown medal. Thanks Mr. von Dille!
And I am now advised that the Medal is
correctly '5th class' (which is actually the Medal of Merit).
The Medal Awards of the French Government
The following is all I know about these French Government medals.
The text that appeared on Oct. 19th 1913, in the New York Times. Can anybody provide
any further details? Maybe the names of all of the individual recipients & the name by which the medals are known.
And an image of one of the medals would be a wonderful site addition.
HAVRE, Oct. 18. - Thirty-two officers and men of the crew of the transatlantic liner Touraine, who took part in the
rescue of the passengers of the Volturno, were decorated with medals to-day by the French Government before the departure of the
vessel for New York.
A. de Monzie, Under Secretary of State for the Mercantile Marine, went on board the liner and in the name of the
Government bestowed gold medals of the first class on Second Capt. Rousselet and Lieuts. Izenic, Le Baron, and Royer, and Mate
Coutre. Gold medals of the second class or silver medals were presented to twenty-seven other petty officers, seamen and stokers.
This page will, hopefully, track data about the various awards granted re the
Volturno disaster. If any
visitor can clarify
(or correct) or provide more information about any of these
matters, I would truly welcome
their help.
May I suggest that you navigate the
site via the
index on page 01.
PRIOR PAGE / NEXT PAGE
To the Special Pages Index.
| A SITE SEARCH FACILITY
THE GUEST BOOK - GO
HERE
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