| Manchester & Salford Volunteers | |||||||||
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| AE 36 by ? | AE probably RRR | ||||||||
| From the early 1790s through at least the time of the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 Britain was under constant threat of invasion by the French. Only the diligence of the Royal Navy kept an actual landing from occurring. Great Britain at this time had a tiny standing army compared to its European counterparts and if France had crossed in force it's doubtful that the fraction that remained on the home islands could have stopped them. |
| Recognizing that fact most towns and villages raised militia, or volunteer forces intending to supplement the regular army in resisting. The Manchester & Salford Volunteers was one such organization and this medal was probably struck to be given to officers and perhaps rich volunteers serving in the ranks. These sorts of medals are quite rare, in fact they seldom show up in the standard references just because examples don't exist in museum collections. |
| The ribbons on the reverse were probably intended to be engraved with the recipient's name. |