Lusitania Medal

[douglas2496]

Hello, thought I would show my British Lusitania medal with box and commemorative postcard. These medals were originally produced in Germany (only 500 were privately produced) to blame The Cunard Line for the deaths of passengers, and make clear that the ship was carrying war material and therefore a legitimate target. It was then reproduced by the British in 1916 (250,000 were struck) to show how the Germans were 'gloating' over the deaths of civillians. The front shows the ship sinking, with war material spilling over board, and says 'No Contraband! The Great Steamer Lusitania was sunk by a German submarine 5th May 1915.' The date of the sinking was actually 7th May. The reverse shows a skeleton selling tickets at the Cunard offices and says 'Business over everything' One of the passengers can be seen reading a newspaper pointing out the danger of submarine activity.

[Scout]

What the heck....skeletons on a thing like that....!

[douglas2496]

Yes, its propaganda to blame the deaths of civilians on The British.

[StuG III]

Imperial War Museum London - The Lusitania Medallion

Tom

[Dean]

Good stuff! Thanks for sharing, Douglas .
Dean

[Tango]

Douglas an interesting piece...I have heard of these but never seen one up close like this..Thanks taking the photos.. Cheers Terry.

[douglas2496]

Thanks for the comments and the interesting link.

[ObKrieger]

Interesting, the date looks like it's spelled 'May', not 'Mai', as it should be in German!

[The woodpecker]

Very nice Douglas.Once I would like to know how you do this Great Black Fonto

[douglas2496]

Yes indeed, it was altered for the British Copy. The rare German originals can be distinguished by the German spelling and their higher quality.