Turkish Crimea Medal 1855, Sardinian issue, awarded to General Sir William Montagu Scott McMurdo (1819-1894)

Silver, circular campaign medal designed by James Robertson (1813-1888), with on the obverse, the Ottoman Sultan's monogram and the Muslim calendar year of 1271. On the reverse, a trophy of arms with colours, a cannon, anchor and a mortar, the flags of the allies, and a campaign honour, 'Crimea 1855', in the exergue ('La Crimea 1855', for this Sardinian issue). The medal is suspended on a crimson ribbon with green edges.

It had been the intention of the Turkish Sultan to award all Allied veterans of the Crimean War 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.

From a medal group including:, Crimea War Medal 1854-56, clasp: Sebastopol; Scinde Campaign Medal 1843; India General Service Medal 1854-95, clasp: North West Frontier; Legion of Honour, France; Order of the Mejidie, Turkey; Volunteer Officers Decoration; National Rifle Association Medal.