Portuguese Wounded in Campaign Medal Collection

[VonRiver]

Hi to all.,

I'm going to share some Portuguese Wounded Medal’s of my collection with you all, hoping you'll enjoy it.

Best Regards.,

Von River

[VonRiver]

The beginning - Insignia to the Portuguese Mutilated and Disabled of the Great War (WW1):

It was created an insignia, on October 5, 1918, by decree no. 4886, so that the mutilated and crippled military of the Great War, could use an insignia indicative of invalidity acquired in campaign, and at the same time significant of the recognition and protection of the Portuguese Nation, that the recipients are entitled to.

The insignia consisted in a simple ribbon in red with two green lists, and a silver clasp for use with military costume, and a small bow with the national colors (Red and Green) having a white enamel star on the center to be worn in civilian clothes.

Extract from the decree no. 4886, October 5, 1918, with the design of the described:

[VonRiver]

Sample of a silver clasp with red ribbon with the two green lists:

[VonRiver]

Sample of a bronze clasp with the inscription “Mutilado de Guerra” (War Mutilated) to be mounted on the ribbon:



War to which it was attributed: In the Great War (World War I) to the wounded (mutilated) combatants.

[VonRiver]

The creation of the Portuguese Mutilated and Invalid Medal:

The Portuguese Mutilated and Invalid Medal was created on May 28, 1946 by Decree-Law 35:667, is assigned to military personnel who, in the course of the campaign or in circumstances directly related to it, have suffered a permanent decrease, characterized by the anatomical loss or loss of any organ or function.

In the Decree-Law 566 of 1971, the medal don’t have alteration in it's design or motive, but in the Decree-Law 316 of 2002, there was an alteration, passing the inscription “Mutilados e Inválidos” (Mutilated and invalid) to be “Feridos em Campanha” (Wounded in Campaign).

[VonRiver]

Current Order of Precedence (Established by Decree-Law No 316/2002 of 27 December 2002):

1. Order of the Tower and Sword
2. Military Valor Medal
3. War Cross
4. Military Order of Christ
5. Military Order of Aviz
6. Distinguished Service Medal
7. Military Merit Medal
8. Military Order of St James of the Sword
9. Order of Infante D. Henrique
10. Order of Liberty
11. Distinguished services or relevant overseas services
12. Exemplary Behavior Medal
13. Distinguished Achievement on Operations Medal
14. Wounded in Battle Medal
15. Recognition Medal
16. Campaign Service Medal
17. Special Service Commissions Commemorative Medal
18. Other National Orders
19. Other National Medals
20. Foreign Orders, Decorations and Medals

[VonRiver]

The type of the Portuguese Wounded War Medals:

- 1918 Insignia of the Portuguese Mutilated and Disabled of the Great War (used until 1946).

Portuguese War Wounded Medal models.
There are only two models:

- 1946 Model (until 2002);
- 2002 Model (until today).

[VonRiver]

1946 Model – In Sterling silver:



The obverse close up:



Five-pointed star, carved, each finished by a small armillary sphere; to the center a disc with the Portuguese National Emblem, surrounded by a circular listel with the inscription "MUTILADOS E INVALIDOS" (Mutilated and Disabled), in letters of type elzevir, upper case;

The reverse close up:



Five-pointed star, carved, each finished by a small armillary sphere; to the center having a disc with the inscription "MORRER MAS DEVAGAR" (Die but slowly), in letters of type elzevir, capital letters, arranged in three lines, surrounding the legend, two laurel branches, fruity and crossed.

The ribbon and silver clasp close up:



The ribbon is red with the two green vertical lines, as the initial isignia created in 1918.

War to which it was attributed:

The Mutilated and Disabled War Medal received notoriety after the Great War (World War I), after the forties, and during and after the Portuguese Overseas (War in the Portuguese Africa).

For those who do not know, the overseas (colonial) war consisted of a confrontation between the Portuguese Armed Forces and the forces organized by the liberation movements of the former overseas provinces of Angola, Guinea and Mozambique, between 1961 and 1974

[VonRiver]

A good sample of the award of the Mutilated and Disabled War Medal is to the combatant of the Great War, the soldier Mr. Manuel Miguel de Ribamar, who is well documented and can be seen in the following link:

https://sites.google.com/site/republ...uel-de-ribamar

[VonRiver]

The Medal inscription "MORRER MAS DEVAGAR" (DIE BUT SLOWLY):

The phrase “Die but Slowly” may have connected with our Portuguese History and the Military disaster that has occurred with our troops in the “Alcácer Quibir” battle.



The Battle of “Alcácer Quibir”, also known as the "Battle of Three Kings" in Morocco, was fought in northern Morocco, on 4 August 1578. The combatants were the army of the deposed Moroccan Sultan Abu Abdallah Mohammed II, with his ally, the King of Portugal Dom Sebastião I, against a large Moroccan army nominally under the new Sultan of Morocco (and uncle of Abu Abdallah Mohammed II) Abd Al-Malik I.

The Portuguese lost the battle in the most Portuguese military disaster until the battle of "La Lys" in France on April 9, 1918 during the WW1.

The Portuguese King, Dom Sebastião, in the face of inevitable defeat, refuses the advice of other nobles to surrender, saying: "Senhores, a liberdade real só há de se perder com a vida" ("Sirs, real freedom will only be lost with life."). The nobles who accompanied him on horseback were content to continue the fight to the end, and Dom Sebastião said: "Morrer sim, mas devagar!" ("Die, yes, but slowly!"), the body of Portuguese King, who led a charge into the midst of the enemy and the chaos, was never found.



Painting of the Portuguese king Dom Sebastião (King of Portugal and Algarves). Reign of 11 of June of 1557 until 4 of August of 1578. Source: https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sebast..._I_de_Portugal

The battle ended after nearly four hours of heavy fighting and resulted in the total defeat of the Portuguese and Abu Abdallah's army with 8,000 dead, including the slaughter of almost the whole of the country’s nobility. 15,000 were taken prisoner, and around 100 survivors escaped to the coast.