Sardinian War Medal awarded to Private John Fahey, 3rd (The East Kent) Regiment of Foot (The Buffs), 1856

On 6 June 1856 the King of Piedmont-Sardinia authorised a silver medal to be awarded to 450 specially selected officers and men of the British naval and military forces who had fought in the Crimean War (1854-1856). Some 400 of these went to the Army, and the first awards were made on 18 July to the Royal Artillery at Woolwich. Private John Fahey was one of only three members of the Buffs to receive the medal, the others being Colonel C T Van Straubenzee and Major G J Ambrose. The medal's design is similar to the Medal for Military Valour, instituted in 1833.