Baltic Medal 1854-5

Awarded to Admiral Sir Frederick George Denham Bedford (1838-1913). Obverse: Head of Queen Victoria with a diadem, hair tied in a knot (left). Legend: 'VICTORIA REGINA'. Reverse: Britannia in a helmet holding an upright trident seated on a block ornamented with a naval gun and trophy, Russian forts of Bomarsund and Sveaborg in the distance on either side. Legend: 'BALTIC'. Exergue: '1854-1855'. Suspended from a cusped clasp and yellow ribbon edged with blue. Inscribed on edge: 'F.G.D.BEDFORD. MIDN.' Mounted on a bar with seven other medals.

Bedford served as a midshipman in the paddle frigate HMS ‘Samson’ during the Crimean War and was present at the bombardment of Odessa and Sebastopol in the Black Sea. Transferring to the Baltic in ‘Vulture’, he was engaged in rocket boats at the bombardment of Sveaborg.