Medal
Fredericton Region Museum
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| Object Name: | Medal |
|---|---|
| Object Type: | British War Medal |
| Category: | Personal Symbols |
| Material: | Silver |
| Accession Number: | 1969.2812.1b |
| Description: | A circular, silver medal, 1.42 inches in diameter. The medal awarded to Chinese, Maltese and Native Labour Corps was bronze. For mounting, there is a plain, straight, non-swiveling suspender with a single-toe claw. The obverse shows the King George V, bareheaded coinage effigy, facing left, with the legend: GEORGIVS V BRITT : OMN : REX ET IND : IMP:. On the reverse, there is a horseman, St. George, armed with a short sword (an allegory of the physical and mental strength which achieves victory over Prussianism). The horse tramples on the Prussian shield and the skull and cross-bones. Off-centre, near the right upper rim, is the sun of Victory. The dates 1914 and 1918 appear in the left and right field respectively. The watered ribbon in 1.25 inches wide, and consists of seven stripes: blue, black, white, orange centre, white, black and blue (Veterans Affairs Canada). Impressed on the rim- 69227 L-Cpl C.W. Darcus. |
| Narrative: | Charles William Darcus was born in Dublin, Ireland on 22 February 1893. He emigrated to Canada in 1910 and appears to have lived in the Fredericton, NB area. Soon after the First World War began, he answered the call and enlisted in the 26th Battalion at Saint John, NB on 28 November 1914. While the unit was doing its initial training, he married Anna Naomi I Staveley on 17 March 1915 in Fredericton. He went overseas with his battalion on 15 June 1915 and, after further training in England, embarked for France on 13 September. Following specialized training, he was employed in the machine gun section. After recovering from a shrapnel wound, he rejoined his battalion on 14 August 1918. The famous Canadas 100 Days had started. His first action was in the Battle of the Scarpe that had begun on 26 August. On 28 August, Lance Corporal Darcus "was hit in the stomach by shrapnel and instantly killed". He was initially reported as missing and later as dead. His body was not recovered and he is commemorated on the Vimy Memorial. Following the war, his medals and other Remembrance memorabilia were sent to his wife between 1920 and 1922. She had relocated to Victoria, BC. In 1966, Mrs. Anna Darcus-Hodder donated these items to the York-Sunbury Museum, now known as the Fredericton Region Museum. This is one of three service medals that were sent to his widow. |
| History of Use: | Awarded to all First World War service personnel who served in a qualifying area. There were 427,993 issued to Canadians in the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) and 6,500,000 in total (Veterans Affairs Canada). |
| Institution: |
Fredericton Region Museum
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| Institution City: | Fredericton |
| Institution Province: | New Brunswick |