For participation in the Battle of Muddy Flats, 1854.

This seems to be a generic fire service medal from England inscribed to honor service in Shanghai. The obverse shows a fireman on a ladder amid flames about to strike with an axe. The reverse reads "Hongkew Co / No 2 / S V F H / Three Years / Service / 1876/79" This text is within a laurel wreath. At the bottom is a maker's label, Shand Mason & Co, London. There is also a two part counterstamp sunk into the medal which is unclear, but the second element seems to refer to a bar. This medal is from the Gene Christian Collection.

625 silver and 100 copper medals were distributed as part of the 50th Jubilee celebrations on November 17th, 1893. It was the 50th anniversary of the arrival of the first British Consul, following the Treaty of Nanking, which ended the First Opium War. The copper example is from the Gene Christian Collection.

This pre-dates the general Volunteer Fire Brigade Long Service Medal which covers all of the different units. The design includes the delightful slogan "Say the word and down comes your house". The example shown here, with Rosette style ribbon and accompanying miniature, is from the Gene Christian Collection

The obverse of this silver medal shows Municipal Seal encircled with the words Shanghai Volunteer Fire Brigade / Established 1866. The reverse shows a helmet over two crossed fire axes encircled with the words "For Long Service / 'We Fight the Flames'". The example shown here, in copper without a suspension, is likely a specimen. It is from the Gene Christian Collection.

This example is from the Karl Spencer Collection.

The "Specials" seem to have been a unit of voluntary auxiliary police officers.

This was instituted in 1925, and awarded for 12 years cumulative service with the SVC. Ultimately about 850 were issued by 1941. Bars for specific additional periods of service beyond the initial term were also awarded.

This is probably the commonest of the Shanghai medals. It was awarded to the Volunteers, Police and civilians who had participated in keeping the international settlement safe during the Japanese invasion. It is an eight-pointed bronze star with the municipal seal on the obverse and the text "For Service Rendered August 12th to November 12th, 1937" on the reverse.

This is a white metal, eight-pointed, star-shaped medal with the Shanghai Municipal seal within the star on the obverse. The reverse has five rows of raised characters honoring bravery of the the Municipal Volunteer Police with a date of July 31st,1943. The one shown, from the Gene Christian collection, has a maroon ribbon.

Provenance suggests that this was issued in Shanghai, as it came in a family lot including a Third China War medal issued to a member of the Shanghai Volunteers, (see below) which would have been awarded at roughly the same time as Edward's Accession/coronation. However, the tattered ribbon it came with is the one from the British 1939-1945 War Medal.

This was the highest award from the French Concession Government. The obverse consists of the coat of arms or seal of the French Concession ringed with a banner reading "Concession Francaise de Changhai" There are tiny design credits of "L Mayol" to the left of the badge and "Paris Art" to the right of the badge. The reverse reads "Merite Civique". There is also a punch mark on the rim between "concession" and "francaise" which reads 18K, an assay mark as to the gold content.

A report from The North-China Herald, March 29th, 1932, on page 481, reads: "Funeral of Col. Marcaire": "On the proposition of the president of the [French Municipal] Commission, the Municpal Gold medal was posthoumously conferred on the late Col. Marcaire..." Marcaire was the Commander- in-Chief of the French military forces in Shanghai during the 1932 Incident. I have also seen one other written reference to it in a memoir.

(Seen in the Museum of the History of the City of Shanghai)

This comes in both Silver and Gold versions. The ones shown are from the Gene Christian Collection. A silver one can also be seen in the Museum of the History of the City of Shanghai.

This is the French Concession equivalent of the SMC award for service protecting the foreign communities during the Japanese invasion. The obverse text reads: "Servir", the reverse text reads "Medaille de Changhai Concession Francais", and the bar text reads: "Medaille Commemorative/=Changhai 1937=/Police Francaise". At least two other bars have been reported: "Volontaire/Francaise/Aout-Nov 1937" and "Police Speciale/Volontaire/Aout-Nov 1937". Thanks to "Yash" Yasinitsky for this additional information.

1932?

This is possibly related to one of the innumerable Volunteer Units which served in the defence of Shanghai and Woosung in early 1932. The image is courtesy Liverpool Medals.

1932

The text on the helmet reads "National Hero", and the text at the bottom reads roughly "Awarded by the Shanghai Municipal General Labour Union". The use of the German-style helmet in the design may be a reference to the troops of the 5th Army, some of whom were trained by German officers and wore equipment acquired from Germany. They fought alongside the 19th Route Army in the latter part of the 1932 "Incident". The shape, and the form of the helmet and skyline seems to fit the description by Faulconbridge of the "Shanghai Municipal Council Wound Medal" (#9), although he states it should have a red, white, and blue ribbon.

On May 28th, 1932, a memorial service was held in Shanghai to honor the fallen of the 19th Route Army. The Chinese Chamber of Commerce was one of the sponsoring organizations. It is possible that these were distributed then (See The North-China Herald, 5/31/32, p332). In the absence of significant Chinese participation in the Shanghai Municipal Council, the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce was one of the more powerful semi-governmental organizations among the Chinese at the time.