The Red Cross

The medal's obverse bears pelican (?) sitting on red cross shield; cross in background.

The reverse bears legend. Around, CROIX ROUGE DE BELGIQUE; across, RECONNAISSANCE / AUX / DONNEURS DE SANG

This medal was awarded to blood donors by the Belgian Red Cross. It exists in a French and a Flemish version that differ in the language of the inscription on the reverse.

The circular medal measures 50.2mm in diameter and was struck in bronze. Neither artist nor mintage nor mint are known to me and I would appreciate any additional information.

The medal's obverse bears a military doctor and a nurse standing at invalid soldier's side, hospital building, trees and another nurse with invalid on crutches in background. Signed in exergue, René Baudichon

The reverse bears cross in circle over background of laurel, empty cartouche at bottom.

The circular medal measures 45mm in diameter and was struck in bronze in an unknown mintage.

The medal's obverse depicts the allegory of the blind man and the lame, the seeing-eyed younger man carried on the blind man's shoulders, legs dangling uselessly to one side; thorny thistles to one side.  Around top, AIDONS-NOUS MUTUELLEMENT: LA CHARGE DES MALHEURS EN SERA PLUS LEGERE; signed around lower left, G. DEVREESE. 1916.

The reverse bears enameled red cross shield over laurels. Around top, CROIX ROUGE DE BELGIQUE; across, SECOURS AUX VICTIMES / DES INONDATIONS / 1925 - 1926 / -.- / TEMOINAGE / DE RECONNAISSANCE

The story of the blind man and the lame helping each other became popular in France during the 18th century and is frequently attributed to Aesop, though there is little evidence to support this claim.  The legend around the top translates roughly to: "Let us help each other: the burden of misfortune will be lighter."

Eastern Belgium experienced heavy snowfall during December of 1925, followed by heavy rains in early 1926.  As a consequence, the Meuse River Valley in the Walloon region of Eastern Belgium experienced heavy flooding and there was a wide-spread aid effort in which the Belgian Red Cross played a crucial role.

This medal was given to aid donors and helpers as a token of recognition. The circular medal measures 70mm in diameter and was struck in bronze. No mintage is reported.

The medal's obverse bears portrait of Richard Norton, facing right.

The reverse bears legend. In center field, AMERICAN / RED CROSS / AMBULANCE SECTIONS / PRESENTED TO OUR / CHIEF / RICHARD NORTON ESQ / IN TOKEN OF OUR / ESTEEM AND AFFECTION / OCTOBER 1914 / OCTOBER 1917; around, the names of battles in which the unit participated, ALBERT - HEBUTERNE - CHAMPAGNE - VERDUN - CHEMIN DES DAMES

The American Volunteer Motor Ambulance Corps, also known as the Norton-Harjes Ambulance Corps, was an organization started in London, England, in the fall of 1914 by Richard Norton (1872-1918), a noted archeologist and son of Harvard professor Charles Eliot Norton.

Its mission was to assist the movement of wounded Allied troops from the battlefields to hospitals in France during World War I. The Corps began with two cars and four drivers. The service was associated with the British Red Cross and St. John Ambulance.

The "Harjes" part of the name refers to Henry Herman Harjes, a French millionaire banker who wished to help Norton by donating funds and ambulances. When the United States officially joined the war in 1917, the service had thirteen sections of six hundred American volunteer drivers and three hundred ambulances.

For his service, Richard Norton was awarded the Croix de Guerre, the Legion of Honour, and the Order of St. Lazarus. His award of the Cross of the Legion of Honor was the highest award given to any foreigner by France during World War I.

The bronze medal is neither signed nor does it have any mint marks. It is circular and measures 59mm in diameter. No mintage is reported.

The obverse bears bust of Robert P. Perkins in Red Cross uniform, facing left. Around, · ROBERT · P · PERKINS · - · ROMA · MCMXVIII ·

The reverse bears group of mother and three children in center. Around, (cross) AMERICAN (cross) RED (cross) CROSS (cross) IN (cross) ITALY (cross); below, CARITAS; signed above group, · P · M ·

Robert P. Perkins (1862-1924) was president of the Bigelow-Hartford Carpet Company and served as the American Red Cross commissioner in Italy during World War I.

Manship also served in the Red Cross in Italy but nearly died from pneumonia brought on by dreadful weather and a major bout of influenza. He was sent to a hospital in Padua and when he was finally well enough to travel, to Rome, where he stayed at the Grand Hotel, the only one in the city with heat. Manship got to know Perkins while recuperating in Rome.

With this design Manship expressed his gratitude to Perkins and the Red Cross, but also his compassion for the fatherless families left behind in war-torn Europe. The images do not do justice to this medallion's massive presence. The bust rises another 11mm over an already thick base for a total height of 20mm; a typical electronic coin scale will capitulate before the medallion's weight.

This medallion probably represents an early cast of Manship's design and is likely unique. It was most likely cast from his preliminary plaster after he returned to the States. It is larger than the 105mm medallion and differs from that version in legend and signature placement.

The medallion measures 112mm in diameter and was cast in bronze by the artist. It is probably a unique specimen and one of the prize pieces in any collection of 20th Century American Medallic Art.

References:   Murtha 109

The medal's obverse bears nurse bent over hospital bed with soldier, table with plant and window in background. In exergue, Au service de la Souffrance; signed in bottom right cotner, G. DEVREESE.

The reverse bears enameled red cross shield over laurel branches.  Around top, CROIX ROUGE DE BELGIQUE; across, EN SOUVENIR / DES SERVICES RENDUS / AU COURS DE LA GUERRE / 1914 - 1919

The medal measures 63.6mm x 69mm and was struck in bronze by the Jules Fonson mint. No mintage is reported.

The medal's obverse bears conjoined busts of Marie Depage and Edith Clavell, facing left, with laurel branch behind them. Around, MARIE DEPAGE - EDITH CAVELL; signed on truncation, A BONNETAIN / 1919

The reverse bears legend only, 1915 / REMEMBER

Marie Depage and Edith Cavell were heroines of World War I on the Allied side. Marie Depage was the wife of the prominent doctor Antoine Depage, who was a surgeon to the Belgian King.  In 1907 she founded a laicised non-denominational medical institute in 1907, the Berkendael Medical Institute (also known as L'École Belge d’Infirmières Diplômées), in Uccle near Brussels, with British Edith Cavell as head nurse.

Depage travelled to the US in January 1915 to raise funds for the L'Océan hospital. After raising $100,000 in a few weeks, she received news that her middle son Lucien would be joining her eldest son Pierre at the front, and decided to return to Belgium. She booked passage on the RMS Lusitania, leaving New York on 1 May 1915 for Liverpool via Queenstown in the south of Ireland. The ship was torpedoed by German submarine U-20 at about 2:10 pm on 7 May 1915, and rapidly sank. Depage assisted other passengers to board lifeboats, and treated some injured on the deck of the sinking vessel. As the ship sank, she became entangled in ropes and drowned, one of nearly 1,200 killed from almost 2,000 aboard.

Edith Cavell continued to work at the Berkendael Medical Institute, where she helped hundreds of allied soldiers escape.  Her humanitarian actions, which she freely confessed after her arrest, rendered the normal protections accorded to medical personnel void. She was court-martialed, sentenced to death for treason and, despite international pleas for mercy, executed by firing squad.

Both women were celebrated as martyrs and heroines and monuments as well as medals commemorate their lives and deaths.

The circular medal measures 58mm in diameter and was struck in bronze by Jules Fonson and Company. No mintage is reported.

The medal's obverse bears American Red Cross nurse facing right; Around top, · CROIX · ROUGE · AMERICAINE · EN · FRANCE · ; signed over right shoulder, G PRVD HOMME

The reverse bears nurse kneeling next to wounded soldier on a stretcher, holding him up so he can drink from cup she holds to his lips.  In background, forest, ambulance and field hospital, with red cross flag flying from central mast.  Across, AMERICAN / AMBULANCE.  Signed in exergue, G PRVDHOMME

The circular medal measures 68mm in diameter and was struck in bronze by the Paris Mint. No mintage is reported.

The medal's obverse depicts a hospital scene with Japanese doctor taking the pulse of caucasian patient sitting up in bed, Japanese nurse standing by with a bottle of medicine. Around top, Japaense symbols ; signed at left, P LENOIR

The reverse bears crossed French and Japanese flags with Cross on lotus flower in center. Around, HOPITAUX JAPONAIS EN FRANCE, across, 1914 - 1918

The Japanese Red Cross Society had acquired an impressive reputation by providing assistance with numerous disasters world-wide, for example the San Francisco earthquake of 1906.

Only a few days after Japan entered World War I on the Allied side, the Japanese Cabinet requested that the Red Cross Society send three groups of doctors and nurses to Europe: one each to Japan’s allies, Britain, France and Russia. The leaders of the Red Cross Society accepted this proposal, readily recognizing the national and international importance of this pioneering act of Asian medical aid to European countries. The three allies quickly accepted the Japanese suggestion.