The Canada General Service Medal was a campaign medal awarded by the

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

Government to both

Imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * Imperial, Texas ...

and

forces for duties related to the Fenian raids between 1866 and 1871. The medal was initially issued in 1899 and had to be applied for. The application period was later extended to 1907, then to 1928. With late applications, 17,623 medals were awarded, including 15,300 to members of Canadian units. The medal, in

diameter In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the center of the circle and whose endpoints lie on the circle. It can also be defined as the longest chord of the circle. Both definitions are also valid fo ...

, is silver and has a plain straight swivel suspender. The obverse bears the head of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

with the legend VICTORIA REGINA ET IMPERATRIX, while the reverse depicts the ensign of Canada surrounded by a wreath of maple leaves with the word CANADA above.
The recipient's name, rank and unit appear on the rim of the medal. A number of different impressed and engraved styles were used, reflecting that the medal was awarded over a long period of time.
The wide ribbon consists of three equal stripes of red, white and red. In 1943 the same ribbon was adopted for the Canada Medal.Captain H. Taprell Dorling, ''Ribbons and Medals'', p 65. Published A.H.Baldwin & Sons, London. 1956.

Clasps

The medal was always awarded with a clasp, with 12 medals awarded with all three clasps. The number of clasps indicated below includes those that appear on multi-clasp medals. ;FENIAN RAID 1866 :For services related to the Fenian raids of 1866. 13,000 clasps were awarded. ;FENIAN RAID 1870 :For services related to the Fenian raids of 1870. 5,925 clasps were awarded. ;RED RIVER 1870 :For services related to the suppression of the

Red River Rebellion The Red River Rebellion (french: Rébellion de la rivière Rouge), also known as the Red River Resistance, Red River uprising, or First Riel Rebellion, was the sequence of events that led up to the 1869 establishment of a provisional government b ...

. 502 clasps were awarded.

References

{{British campaign medals Canadian campaign medals British campaign medals