- Time Period: Pre-WW1
- Year of Institution: 1894
- Country: Great Britain
The Hong Kong Plague Medal was established in 1894 and awarded by the colonial authorities in Hong Kong to nurses, civil servants, police, British Army and Royal Navy personnel who rendered assistance when the crown colony was stricken by a severe epidemic of bubonic plague in 1894.
Even though stringent measures were taken, bubonic plague swept through Hong Kong from May to September 1894, claiming 2,500 lives. To deal with such a deadly epidemic, the Sanitary Board passed bye-laws on 11 May 1894 that permitted house-to-house searches to discover and isolate as soon as possible persons suffering from plague and to clean the houses in which plague was present. Initially, the work was carried out by the local European police inspectors and sergeants accompanied by Chinese constables and detectives, but as the epidemic spread like wildfire, the work soon exceeded the capacity of the local police.
About 400 medals were issued in silver and awarded to 300 men of the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry, 50 petty officers and ratings of the Royal Navy and NCOs and other ranks of the Royal Engineers, as well as about the same number of police and junior officials. Exactly 45 medals were struck in gold for award to officers, nursing sisters and senior officials.
The medal was not authorized for wear on uniform by the British troops.
The Hong Kong Plague Medal Design
The medal is circular, struck in silver or gold and measures 36 millimeters (1.4 in) in diameter.
The obverse shows a Chinese man lying on a bed being tended to by a female nurse while a man holds off the winged figure of Death. The figure of Death is aiming his spear at a plague-stricken Chinese man laid on a table. The woman, symbolizing Charity, has her right hand on the patient’s heart and her left hand holding a bottle of medicine. On the left the words ‘Hong Kong‘ are inscribed in Chinese characters, while a scroll shows the date 1894.
The reverse bears two inscriptions: ‘For services rendered during the plague of 1894‘ and ‘Presented by the Hong Kong Community‘.
The ribbon is red with yellow edges and two thin yellow stripes down the center. The naming is in impressed capitals giving the recipients rank, name, and regiment.
Notes
This page was updated on 21 March 2023. The medal showed an image that belonged to Liverpool Medals but didn’t show the correct attribution.
