Turkish Crimean War Medal 1855, Sardinian issue

Awarded to Sergeant-Major Timothy Marks, 4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon GuardsAssociated with the Crimean War (1854-1856).

Timothy Marks was born in 1831 at Roscrea, County Tipperary, enlisting in the Army in 1849. In March 1852, he transferred to the 4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards, in which he remained until his discharge in October 1870. His only overseas service was the 25 months he spent in Turkey and the Crimea, during which he was promoted corporal in August 1855, and sergeant in December 1855. He achieved the rank of troop sergeant major in January 1867. At the time of his discharge he was suffering from dyspepsia, and an enlarged liver. His health had been affected by 'climatic influence and severe military duty to which he was necessarily exposed during the Crimean campaign'.

It had been the intention of the Turkish Sultan to award all survivors of the Crimean Army with a silver medal, which he instituted in 1855. Approximately 75,000 medals were claimed by Britain. However not all these reached their destination, owing to a shortfall in production and the loss of a consignment of some 22,000 medals when the SS Pomona sank near Malta on 22 February 1860. The shortage in British medals was made up to a great extent by issuing British soldiers with Sardinian or French versions.