The Silich Collection of Historical and Art Medals (Part I)

ENGLAND, The Fourth Service 1939-1945, 2002, a cast bronze medal by Mary Ann Simmons [Crucible Foundry] for the British Art Medal Society, concentric radiating waves, rev. map of the Western Atlantic approaches and the Rockall Trough, site of the first vessel to be sunk by a U-boat on the first day of World War II, edge highlight-impressed the fourth service 1939-1945 between the points of the compass, highlight notches on upper reverse edge, 90mm, 545.65g (The Medal 41, pp.118-19). Extremely fine, as made, a poignant medal, very rare; in black pouch of issue £100-£150

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Silich Collection of Historical and Art Medals.

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bt BAMS, April 2003

Edition of 10. The medal commemorates the role of the Merchant Navy as the ‘fourth service’ during World War II. The reverse alludes to the sinking of the passenger liner Athenia, outbound from Liverpool to Montreal, torpedoed by U-30 220 miles north-west of Ireland at 7.30pm on 3 September 1939, the day that Britain declared war with Germany, with the loss of 117 lives. For a full description of the background to the issue of the medal and for an explanation of the notches on the upper part of the reverse, see The Medal 41, p.118.