Italian 1915-1918 Victory Medal Accession Number: RELAWM14824

Description

Italian 1915-1918 Victory Medal. Unnamed as issued. Obverse: A winged figure of Victory on a triumphal chariot drawn by four lions. Reverse: A tower from which fly two doves with sprays of laurel in their beaks. Around the upper circumference is the inscription 'GRANDE GVERRA PER LA CIVILITA' (The Great War for Civilization), in the middle the war years 'MXMXIV' and 'MXMXVIII' on either side of the tower and in the exergue 'AL COMBATIENTI DELLA NAZIONE ALLEATE ED ASSOCIATE' (To the combatants of the allied and associated countries). The medal is fitted with a fixed loop bar suspender and a piece of 36 mm double rainbow ribbon.

Contextual Description

Instituted on 6 April 1922 and awarded to all Italian combatants of the First World War. The MXMXIV (1914) date on the reverse is unusual because Italy did not join the allied side until the Treaty of London on 26 April 1915. 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

• First World War, 1914-1918

Tags

• Italian awards and medals