Silver Boer War Tribute Medal awarded by the District of Cannock and Hednesford, Staffordshire

This medal was presented to C Harnley to commemorate the Relief of Ladysmith and Surrender of Cronje on 27 February 1900, during the Boer War (1899-1902).

At first the British fought the Boers with a small, professional army but after the reverses of December 1899, the British population, which had been educated to think along expansionist, imperial lines, volunteered in considerable numbers to serve in South Africa. Their efforts were commemorated by civic war memorials and the issue of tribute medals to mark the contribution by all sectors of society in this war to preserve the British Empire.

From the Upfill-Brown/Hibbard Collection of the National Army Museum. Purchased with the generous assistance of Mr and Mrs S N Roditi's Charitable Trust and the Friends of the National Army Museum