Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

BRITISH WAR MEDAL, 1919

Date

1919

Materials

SILVER, RIBBON

No. Pieces

1

Height

0.25

Length

9.25

Width

3.75

Description

ROUND SILVER MEDAL ON MOIRE STRIPED RIBBON IN ORANGE, BLUE, BLACK AND WHITE. MEDAL DESIGN DEPICTS UNCLOTHED HORSEMAN EMBOSSED ON OBVERSE. HORSE TRAMPLES ON THE PRUSSIAN SHIELD AND SKULL AND CROSS-BONES. IN THE UPPER PORTION BETWEEN HORSE'S NECK AND RIDER'S KNEE IS SUN OF VICTORY. EMBOSSED TEXT ALONG BORDER READS “1914 1918”. REVERSE HAS EMBOSSED IMAGE OF A MAN’S HEAD IN PROFILE WITH TEXT READING "GEORGEIVS V BRITT:OMN:REX ET IND:IMP:". MEDAL EDGE ENGRAVED WITH TEXT READING "LIEUT. D.A. MCKILLOP.” TOP EDGES OF RIBBON ARE SLIGHTLY FRAYED AND HAND-STITCHED TOGETHER WITH A METAL SAFETY PIN STUCK THROUGH. MEDAL IS TARNISHED AND RIBBON IS SLIGHTLY DISCOLOURED. OVERALL VERY GOOD CONDITION.

Subjects

PERSONAL SYMBOL

Historical Association

MILITARY

History

THIS BRITISH WAR MEDAL WAS AWARDED TO LIEUTENANT D.A. MCKILLOP IN FALL 1919. ACCORDING TO INFORMATION LISTED ON THE GREAT WAR WEBSITE, THE BRITISH WAR MEDAL WAS AWARDED TO INDIVIDUALS IN THE BRITISH AND COMMONWEALTH FORCES WHO ENTERED A THEATRE OF WAR OR ENTERED SERVICE OVERSEAS BETWEEN AUGUST 5, 1914 AND NOVEMBER 11, 1918. THIS MEDAL AND THE FOUR OTHERS COMPRISING THIS DONATION (P20150003001-005) WERE RECEIVED BY GALT COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN THROUGH THE MAIL IN JANUARY 2015, IN A PACKAGE THAT INCLUDED A LETTER FROM THE DONOR, JUNE MCKILLOP, THE WIFE OF D.A. MCKILLOP’S SON DONALD. JUNE WROTE: “I HAVE HAD IN MY POSSESSION FOR MANY YEARS THE ENCLOSED ARTICLES GIVEN TO DON’S FATHER FOR HIS SERVICE DURING THE 1ST WORLD WAR… I HAVE LONG THOUGHT THEY BELONGED IN LETHBRIDGE RATHER THAN IN A CUPBOARD IN TORONTO…” ON JANUARY 29, 2015, MACLEAN INTERVIEWED THE DONOR VIA PHONE CALL ABOUT THE MEDALS. SHE SAID: “[MY HUSBAND AND I] FOUND THEM IN HIS MOTHER’S HOUSE AFTER SHE WENT TO A NURSING HOME IN CALGARY, WHERE SHE DIED [IN 1986]… WE WENT OUT TO SEE IF THERE WAS ANYTHING WE WANTED TO BRING BACK HERE IN MEMORY OF HER… [THE MEDALS] WERE GIVEN TO HER HUSBAND WHO WAS IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR… HE WAS VERY SLIGHTLY GASSED [IN COMBAT] AND TAKEN TO A HOSPITAL IN ENGLAND… [THEN] HE WAS HOME FOR QUITE A NUMBER OF YEARS BEFORE HE DIED, BUT THEY FIGURED IT WAS A RESULT OF THE GASSING, BECAUSE HE WAS NEVER REALLY 100% HEALTHY AFTER THAT… [THE MEDALS] MUST HAVE HAD MEANING TO [MY HUSBAND] BECAUSE HE DIDN’T WANT THEM TO BE SOLD WITH THE REST OF THE THINGS IN THE HOUSEHOLD… [D.A. MCKILLOP] HAD DIED WHEN MY HUSBAND [WAS FIVE], SO DON DIDN’T KNOW MUCH ABOUT HIM AT ALL… MAYBE [HIS MOTHER] SHOWED THE MEDALS TO DON WHEN HE WAS A CHILD [BUT] HE HAD NO MEMORY OF THEM.” THE FOLLOWING BIOGRAPHY OF DONALD ALEXANDER MCKILLOP WAS DEVELOPED WITH INFORMATION FROM A TRIBUTE ARTICLE FROM THE NOVEMBER 18, 1930 ISSUE OF THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD, MCKILLOP’S ATTESTATION PAPERS AND GALT ARCHIVES RECORD 19981061004. D.A. MCKILLOP WAS BORN IN ADMASTON, ONTARIO IN 1882 TO REVEREND CHARLES AND ELIZABETH MCKILLOP. THE FAMILY MOVED TO LETHBRIDGE IN 1886 WHEN REV. MCKILLOP ASSUMED THE POSITION OF PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER IN THE CITY. DONALD WAS EMPLOYED WITH THE CPR BEFORE ENLISTING IN THE CANADIAN OVERSEAS EXPEDITIONARY FORCE IN NOVEMBER 1914. HE FOUGHT OVERSEAS WITH THE 20TH BATTERY AS A GUNNER AND SAW ACTION AT YPRES AND THE SOMME. ON HIS CERTIFICATE OF MILITARY SERVICE, MCKILLOP IS LISTED AS BEING WOUNDED ON OCTOBER 27, 1916, BUT HE RECOVERED TO BE PROMOTED TO THE RANK OF LIEUTENANT AND GIVEN A SPECIAL COURSE OF INSTRUCTION IN ENGLAND. HE RETURNED TO THE FRONT FOR THE TAKING OF MONS, AND WAS AGAIN PROMOTED TO THE RANK OF CAPTAIN, BECOMING SECOND IN COMMAND OF THE BATTERY FOR THEIR ADVANCE INTO GERMANY. AFTER THE WAR, MCKILLOP WAS APPOINTED THE POSTMASTER OF LETHBRIDGE TO FILL THE VACANCY LEFT BY THE DEATH OF MAJOR ALVIN RIPLEY, WHO MCKILLOP SERVED UNDER IN THE 20TH BATTERY. MCKILLOP MARRIED CORINNE ROY IN 1924, AND THEY HAD TWO SONS, DONALD AND JOHN. D.A. MCKILLOP DIED ON NOVEMBER 18, 1930 AFTER A PROLONGED ILLNESS LINKED TO WARTIME EXPOSURE TO POISON GAS. SEE PERMANENT FILE FOR HARDCOPIES OF SOURCE MATERIAL, MCKILLOP’S ATTESTATION PAPERS, DONOR CORRESPONDENCE, AND FULL TRANSCRIPT OF DONOR INTERVIEW.

Catalogue Number

P20150003002

Acquisition Date

2015-01

Collection

Museum

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