Waterloo Medal 1815, awarded to Captain (later Lieutenant-Colonel) William Tyrwhitt Drake, Royal Regiment of Horse Guards

Silver medal, designed by Thomas Wyon, with a portrait of the Prince Regent on the obverse, with the inscription, 'George P. Regent'. On the reverse the figure of Winged Victory seated on a plinth, surmounted by the word, 'Wellington', with, 'Waterloo', and the date of the battle, 'June 18 1815', below. The medal is suspended from a Crimson ribbon with blue edges.

The Waterloo Medal was awarded to any soldier who had taken part in one or more of the following battles Ligny (16 June 1815), Quatre Bras (16 June 1815) and Waterloo (18 June 1815). At Waterloo, the Royal Horse Guards took part in the famous charge of the British heavy cavalry brigades against Marshal d'Erlon's infantry and their supporting squadrons of cuirassiers. Initially successful, the two brigades broke the attacking French, but they then lost cohesion and advanced too far. Both the Household Brigade (including the Royal Horse Guards) and the Union Brigade were subsequently mauled by French lancers and sustained heavy casualties.