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Third China War troop transport medal : H.T.B. Plater
Third China War troop transport medal : H.T.B. Plater

Third China War troop transport medal : H.T.B. Plater

Date1902
Object number00050463
NameMedal
MediumNickel, fabric
DimensionsOverall: 116 x 35 mm
ClassificationsCoins and medals
Credit LineANMM Collection
DescriptionThis Transport Medal China 1900 was awarded to H T B Plater, 3rd Engineering Officer aboard SS SALAMIS, which departed Sydney in July 1900 with the NSW and Victorian Naval Contingents for the China War. The medal's obverse bears the head of King Edward VII, while the verso depicts HMS OPHIR underneath a map of the world. Verso reads in Latin: 'Ob Patriam Militibus per Mare Trasvectis Adjutam, which translates For Services Rendered in Transporting Troops by Sea. The ribbon has red and blue stripes with a clasp reading: China 1900.HistoryAustralia took its first step into East Asian conflicts in 1900, when three colonies sent support to the British at the Boxer War. This was a joint action by several nations including Britain, France, Germany, Austria, Russia and the USA to crush a violent uprising against foreigners in China. The term Boxer was a Western corruption of the original Chinese name. South Australia lent its steel twin screw gunboat HMCS PROTECTOR (Her Majesty's Colonial Ship) with a crew of 110 to assist the Royal Navy. Victoria and New South Wales sent naval brigade contingents totalling 462 men. The Aberdeen Line cargo passenger ship SS SALAMIS was requisitioned by the NSW government to transport the contingent to the conflict. Arriving after the main conflict was over; their main duty was guarding and policing Tianjin (Tientsin) and Beijing (Peking). The Australian colonial forces all returned home by May 1901 and all men were issued with a medal known variously as the Boxer Rebellion medal, The Queen's China War medal and the Third China War medal. The Transport Medal was a British campaign medal awarded to masters and officers of merchant ships that were used to move men and equipment to either South Africa during the South African War or China during the Boxer Rebellion. The clasp on this medal indicates the latter conflict.