French Morocco Medal 1909 Accession Number: RELAWM14780

Description

French Morocco Medal 1909 with the bar 'OUDJDA'. Unnamed as issued. Obverse: The bust of La Republique facing left wearing a helmet that has an oak leaf wreath, and 'REPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE' around the circumference. The engravers name is at the base. Reverse: A fort, flags, field gun and an anchor, under the inscription 'MAROC'. The medal is fitted with a loose ornate suspender formed from branches of laurel and a crescent moon. A piece of 37 mm green ribbon with a centre 5 mm white stripe and thin white stripes near the edge is attached to the suspender. The silver campaign bar slides over the ribbon.

Contextual Description

Instituted 22 July 1909 and awarded to military (and some civilian) personnel who had taken part in the pacification of the French Colony of Morocco. The bar 'OUDJDA' represents the city on the border of Morocco and Algeria. The French occupied Oudjda in 1844 and again in 1859. After an insurrection led by Bou Hamra in 1909, the French took the city again and retained it as part of the French protectorate until Moroccan independence in 1956. Three other bars 'CASABLANCA', 'HAUT-GUIR', and later 'MAROC' were issued with the medal. This medal is part of a collection assembled by the late Hon. Sir Thomas Hughes, Member of the Legislative Council of New South Wales. It was presented to the Memorial in memory of his son, Captain Roger Forrest Hughes, Australian Army Medical Corps, who died of wounds in France on 11 December 1916 and his grandson, Flying Officer Peter Roger Forrest Hughes, 12 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, who was killed on active service while flying in the Northern Territory on 3 October 1942.

Details

Conflicts

• Period 1900-1909

Places

• Morocco

Units

• French Army

Tags

• French awards and medals
• French