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French Médaille Commémorative d’Orient 1915-18.
£25
The Orient campaign medal (French: "Médaille commémorative d'Orient") was a French military medal bestowed for participation in the battles against the Central Powers by the Allied Eastern Army between 1915 and 1918.
These battles culminated in the 1918 successful offensive under French general Louis Franchet d'Espèrey in Macedonia knocking Bulgaria out of the war and the overrunning of much of the Balkans.
The Orient campaign medal is a 30mm in diameter circular medal struck from bronze. The obverse bears the relief image of the "warrior republic" in the form of the left profile of a helmeted woman's bust, the helmet being adorned by a crown of oak leaves. On either side, the relief inscription along the circumference "FRENCH REPUBLIC" (French: RÉPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE).
The reverse, representing both the army and navy, bears the relief image of an infantry rifle crossed with a naval anchor below two military banners and lances surmounted by the relief inscription "ORIENT". On some variants, the relief inscription "HONNEUR ET PATRIE 1915 1918" (HONOUR AND COUNTRY 1915 1918) can be found on one of the banners, other variants lack the anchor.
The medal hangs from a ribbon through a ring passing through the medal's suspension loop. The ring is adorned by a 24mm in diameter bronze laurel wreath and half crescent. The ribbon is 37mm wide and is light blue with a yellow central 7mm wide and 2mm wide stripes 2mm from the edges.
Reference 634