ITALIAN NORTH AFRICAN CAMPAIGN MEDAL.

Specimens of this medal was found in a sunken wreck in Berzert harbour after its occupation by the Allies in May 1943. This medal was intended to commemorate the trumphal occupation of Egypt and the Suez Canal by the Axis forces.

The medal is of bronze and would once have been silver gilt, the reverse side shows two knights in armour = Germany and Italy = and are standing on the legs of the helpless crocodile = the British Empire = and is forcibly closing its jaws = the Suez Canal. On the obverse side is an archway over a reaf knot with a Fasces on the left and a Swastika on the right. Round the rim of the medal was written the legend :-

CAMPAGNA ITALO TADESCA IN AFRICA -

ITALIANISCH DEUTCHER FELDZUG IN AFRICA

This medal was recovered from a field in Wrexham, North Wales where Italian prisoners were billeted in 1942 at a time when they worked on the farm land.