The East and Central Africa Medal, established in February 1899, was a British

campaign medal A campaign medal is a military decoration which is awarded to a member of an armed force who serves in a designated military operation or performs duty in a geographical theater. Campaign medals are very similar to service medals but carry a hig ...

awarded for minor military operations in the

Uganda Protectorate The Protectorate of Uganda was a protectorate of the British Empire from 1894 to 1962. In 1893 the Imperial British East Africa Company transferred its administration rights of territory consisting mainly of the Kingdom of Buganda to the Bri ...

and Southern Sudan between 1897 and 1899. Four separate clasps were issued.Medals of the World
/ref> Most medals were awarded to British-led local forces or units of the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

. No

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

units were present, although a number of British officers and non commissioned officers received the medal while seconded to local units. The recipients of the ''Lubwa's'' and ''Uganda 1897-98'' clasps included several women who nursed the sick.Dixons Medals sales catalogue
The medal is in diameter. It was issued in silver to all recipients, except for native porters and other authorised camp followers, who received the medal in bronze.
The obverse of the medal bears a left facing half-length figure 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 previo ...

holding the

Royal Sceptre The Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom, originally the Crown Jewels of England, are a collection of royal ceremonial objects kept in the Tower of London which include the Coronation of the British monarch, coronation regalia and vestments worn ...

with the inscription "VICTORIA REGINA ET IMPERATRIX".
The reverse, designed by G. W. de Saulles, has an image of

Britannia Britannia () is the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used in classical antiquity, the Latin ''Britannia'' was the name variously applied to the British Isles, Great ...

standing and facing right, holding a trident and palm branch, while behind is a lion and the rising sun. Below is the inscription "EAST & CENTRAL AFRICA". The name and regiment of the recipient are engraved in capitals on the rim of the medal. The wide ribbon is half yellow and half red, with the yellow to the left when facing the wearer.

Clasps

Most medals were awarded with a clasp, with a total of four authorised. ''Lubwa's'' was only awarded as part of a two clasp medal, usually with ''Uganda 1897-98''. The clasps awarded were: * Lubwa's :Operation against mutinous Sudanese soldiers stationed in Uganda who held Fort Lubwa's on Lake Victoria, '' 23 September 1897 - 24 February 1898'' * Uganda 1897-98 :An expedition into the Teita country of Uganda, ''20 July 1897 - 19 March 1898'' * 1898 :For service in quelling a rebellion by the Ogaden Somalis led by Sultan Ahmed bin Marghan, ''12 April - 3 October 1898'' * Uganda 1899 :For service in the

along the Nile to quell a rebellion by local rulers Kabarega and

Mwanga II of Buganda Danieri Basammula-Ekkere Mwanga II Mukasa (1868 – 8 May 1903)D. A. Low''Fabrication of Empire: The British and the Uganda Kingdoms, 1890-1902'' Cambridge University Press, 2009, p. 210, note 196. was Kabaka of Buganda from 1884 until 1888 and fro ...

, ''21 March - 2 May 1899''

Notes

{{British campaign medals British campaign medals