NAM.1963-10-68-2

Turkish War Medal 1855, Private William Sewell, 13th (Light) Dragoons Privately made silver suspender. Associated with the Crimean War (1854-1856). Private William Sewell (1830 (c)-1910) enlisted in the Army in 1851/1852 and was badly wounded at Balaklava during the Charge of the Light Brigade. The injury to his head was so severe that for the remainder of his life a plate was fixed over the wound. He left the Army as a sergeant and became a coachman, dying in Liverpool. 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 Feb 1860. The shortage in British medals was made up to a great extent by issuing British soldiers with Sardinian or French versions.

Crimean War (1854-1856)