The Kabul to Kandahar Star was instituted on 19th March, 1881 and made from the bronze of captured cannons taken from Ayub Khan at the Battle of Kandahar.

It was awarded to British and British Indian Army personnel who took part in General Robert’s famous epic 320 mile march from Kabul to Kandahar in Afghanistan, between 9th and 31st August 1880.

The force sent to relive Kandahar defeated the Afghan army the very next day, which led Queen Victoria to approve the issuing of this bronze star for membership in 1881.

Description:

Materials: The majority of the British medals and clasps are made of solid silver, though some were issue in bronze versions, mainly to Indian non-combatants. The majority of the British campaign awards are circular, usually 36mm in diameter.

Ribbons: Medals are worn suspended from their own specific ribbons. These were first made of silk but cotton was increasingly used as the nineteenth century developed. Their own colours often have a symbolic significance: the equal stripes of the ‘1939 to 1945 Star,’ for example, are dark blue to represent the service of the Royal and Merchant Navies, red, to represent that of the Armies and light blue to represent that of Air Forces.

Ribbon width can vary slightly though it is generally 32mm wide.

Ribbon – The rainbow pattern of red, white, yellow, white and blue.

Kabul to Kandahar Star ribbon

Type – Campaign medal.

Eligibility – British and British Indian Army.

Awarded for – Campaign Service.

Campaign – Relief of Kandahar, 9–31 August 1880.

Established – 1881.

Designer – Unknown designer. They made by Messer. H. Jenkins & Sons, Birmingham.

Naming – In indented capital letters to British troops. Those issues to Indian units are found engraved in capitals and in script.

Suspender - Ring

Clasps – None issued

Description – The Kabual to Kandahar Star is made of bronze from captured cannons, it’s a five pointed star, 62mm high by 48mm wide with a ball between the inner angles, suspended by the Imperial Crown to which is attached the loop for suspension. The centre of the medal has the Royal monogram “V.R.I.” around which is a raised circular border. On the border, in raised lettering, is “KABUL TO KANDAHAR.” with the date “1880” in the centre at the bottom. The reverse of this medal is plain except for the recipient’s name engraved around the hollow centre.

This guide will help you through all the parts and descriptions of military medals

Sources:

Major L L Gordon ‘British Battles and Medals’

Some of the material on this page was also partially derived from

<en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Kabul_to_Kandahar_Star>

Which are released under the terms of

Creativecommons.org/licenses/by-s/3.0/.

Kabul to Kandahar Star (1880)

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