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Her Majesty’s Army and Navy Veterans’ Association (sometimes Society), formed in Toronto in August 1887, and incorporated in 1888, deserves to be remembered better. Open to all who had served Britain in uniform, the organization emerged from the celebrations of Queen Victoria’s golden jubilee. Among its initial purposes were to do all in its power to establish an Army Veterans Home in Toronto; to give old comrades-in-arms a decent burial; and to provide their widows with modest aid. Within a year of its founding, however, the association had also set its sights on improving the former military cemetery in Victoria Square, Toronto, and on raising a monument there. Apart from holding meetings, suppers, and church parades, the veterans organized athletic games and fielded a band that was much in demand. They held their gatherings in different halls around town. An earlier organization with a similar name and purpose had existed in Halifax since 1872. Another, with a name identical to the Toronto one, was established in Great Britain
in 1891 under the patronage-in-chief of HRH the Duke of Cambridge. This may account for a similarity in the distinctive badge worn by members of the Toronto group, as prescribed by Article 16 of its by-laws, to examples found today in the UK and Germany. Made in sterling silver, silver gilt, or white metal, the medal was cast in the form of a Maltese cross with the royal coat of arms in the centre flanked by a gun carriage and two crossed rifles; two crossed swords sit above the arms and two crossed anchors below. The reverse is blank. Among the examples found to date by The Friends, the crown in the royal coat of arms varies between those of Victoria and Edward VII. Also, on some medals the crossed swords are thicker than on others. All the badges hang on a blue ribbon with a central red stripe bordered with white, but there are important differences in the clasps and hangers. Three examples located have a single, deep bar stamped “Imperial/Army and Navy/Veterans.” Another variant has the same wording on three separated bars, while an odd outlier has “His Majesty’s/A & N Vet’s/ Hamilton” spelled out on three bars. Because Victoria Square is part of the Fort York National Historic Site we’d like to have an example of the medal issued by the Toronto association in our collections and for display in the wider context of the Square’s place within Toronto’s park system. Anyone who has an example of the badge and would like to discuss a gift of it to Fort York should e-mail info@ fortyork.ca to be put in touch with the Chief Curator for Toronto City Museums.
A pristine example of the Army and Navy Veterans’ medal in silver gilt shows clearly the detail on the face. It once belonged to Sgt. William H. Denman. Credit: eMedals, item C4109
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