All participants in the Second Anglo-Afghan war received the Afghan War Medal. This came with clasps across the ribbon depending on which actions the soldier was involved in, if any. Six clasps were awarded: Ali Masjid (22 Nov 1878), Peiwar Kotal (2 Dec 1878), Charasiab (6 Oct 1879), Kabul (operations around Kabul and defence of Sherpur Dec 1879), Ahmed Khel (19 Apr 1880) and Kandahar (1 Sep 1880). A medal bereft of clasps did not indicate any lack of action as there were hundreds of smaller conflicts, and two major actions, Maiwand and Deh Koja, had no clasps attributed due to their disastrous nature.

The medal itself is silver depicting Queen Victoria (head in profile, designed by Joseph Boehm) on one side and an elephant carrying a gun accompanied by cavalry on the reverse (designed by children's book illustrator, Randolph Caldecott). It was engraved by Leonard Wyon at the Royal Mint. The ribbon is green with a crimson panel down each side. An early idea was that battle clasps would merely be added to the 'Frontier Medal', but Roberts, for one, championed the idea of a unique medal for those engaged. A proof of the medal was first displayed in August 1881 at the Dockyard Gates, Portsmouth, and was considered 'of great artistic excellence'.

Lieutenant-Colonel T. G. Ross 14th Bengal Lancers This Afghan war medal was presented to Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Gally Ross and shows clasps for Ali Masjid, Charasia and Kabul. His regiment, the 14th Lancers, were not present at Ali Masjid, so he could have been attached to the staff, or perhaps, as many officers then stationed at Peshawar did, volunteered for action lest the war should be over too quickly and the opportunity for valour in combat missed. Ross's other awards included the Indian Mutiny medal, Indian General Service medal (clasp for Bhutan) and the C.B. in 1881, also the year he died. He commanded the 14th Lancers in the second campaign of the Afghan war and General McGregor thought him 'a good sterling man.' Medal courtesy Mark Sellar collection.

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The Kabul - Kandahar Bronze Star

The Distinguished Conduct Medal was first minted in 1855 to recognise gallantry displayed by privates and NCOs during the Crimean war. The Afghan war saw 61 DCMs awarded, including two with a bar for September 1st 1880 (the bar was introduced by Royal Warrant in February 1881 to display additional citations). The regiment with the most awarded was the 72nd Highlanders with 15 (including the two with bars), while the 92nd Highlanders, 9th Lancers and E/B Royal Horse Artillery all claimed 8 each. The single action with the most DCMs attributed was fateful Maiwand, with 18 in total.

Indian Order of Merit (IOM)

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The Order of Merit was instituted in 1837, in the days of the East India Company, and its first recipients were those who excelled themselves at Ghazni (1839) in the first Afghan War. The order came in three classes; a first act of gallantry would admit a soldier to the third class, admission to the second class could only be obtained by members of the third class, and admission to the first class was available only to those who had gained a second class order. Upon receipt of a higher class, the soldier would have to give up the medal representing the previous order. In 1911 the first class order was replaced by the Victoria Cross, and the second and third class became the first and second class.

The order bears a dark-blue ribbon with crismon edging and is in the shape of an eight-pointed star. Two crossed sabres are imprinted on a blue-enamel centre, surrounded with the words 'Reward Of Valour', which in turn is encircled by a wreath. The third class medal is silver, with a silver wreath, the second class is silver with a gold wreath, and the first class star is gold with a gold wreath. The reverse of the medal has a screw-nut, fixing the front decoration, with the name of the award and its class above it.

The Afghan war saw over 200 third class IOMs being awarded with 9 second class and 4 first class awards. The highest number went to the Corps of Guides, the regiment who defended the Kabul residency, but also for Fatehbad and the operations around Kabul later in December. The 19th Bengal Lancers had 15 awards for Ahmed Khel.

Read more about the IOM from this informative piece wirtten by Edward S. Haynes.

The Victoria Cross (VC)

The Victoria Cross is perhaps one of the world's most famous awards, with its recipients and their deeds being the subject of countless books, articles and much public interest. It was first produced in 1856, and since that date it has always been made by the same firm, Hancock's of London, who cast the medal from Chinese metal taken from a cannon captured during the Crimea, and provided to them as needed by the Central Ordnance Depot (though with several being made at once, they are usually 'in stock'!).

The medal is in the form of a Maltese cross, suspended from a laureled bar, and bears a lion atop the royal crown, the crown cradled by a ribbon with the words 'For Valour'. The ribbon is pure red (though before 1920 it was blue for naval awards). The reverse of the cross has engraved the recipent's name, regiment and the date of action for which the award was presented. The reverse of the suspender bar has the recipient's name, rank, regiment and service number.

Sixteen VCs were awarded for the Second Anglo-Afghan War, including three for the Asmai Heights, two for Deh Koja and two for Maiwand. One of the most interesting recipients was the only non-soldier to win the award during the campaign, the Reverend James William Adams, who had been known back at home as the 'strongest man in Ireland', and who used that strength to rescue several 9th Lancers from a water-filled ditch as an army of Afghans rushed towards them.