MacGregor Medal

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Template:Infobox military award

The MacGregor Medal (also referred to as the MacGregor Memorial Medal) is awarded for valuable military intelligence through reconnaissance, exploration, survey or other similar activities of national importance.Template:SfnpTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp Awardees have included Survey of India personnel, military attaches, consuls, political officers and Indian Army, Navy and Air Force personnel (including British officers before Independence).Template:Sfnp Post 1947 the medal has only been awarded to military personnel. A few medals have been awarded for escapes from enemy-occupied territory while some medals were awarded for successful operations inside enemy territory.Template:Sfnp Sometimes the awardee would be conferred the medal years after the journey had been made.Template:Sfnp Currently the domains incorporated are land, sea and air. Over the years the necessity and opportunities related to exploration have declined and this in turn has been coupled with a decline in recommendations. In this light the eligibility has been expanded to adventure activities mountain and desert expeditions, rafting, world circumnavigation, polar expedition and flights.Template:SfnpTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp

History

The medal was instituted in May 1887 to honour the memory of United Service Institution of India founder, Major General Sir Charles MacGregor.[1][2] The original criteria for award of the medal were enunciated out on 3 July 1888 at Shimla at a meeting in the presence of Commander-in-Chief General Sir FS Roberts and the Viceroy of India.[1] After the partition of British India into India and Pakistan, the award was adopted by India and continues to this day. 122 medals have been awarded: 7 gold medals to officers, 67 standard size silver medals to officers (including 5 VCOs and JCOs), and 48 reduced size silver medals to other ranks/soldiers.[1][2] One British officer has been awarded the medal twice, A. S. Lancaster, as a major in 1938, and again as a colonel in 1946;[2] and one British Indian, Shahzad Mir, first as Daffadar, in 1897, then again as Risaldar in 1906.Template:Sfn For reconnaissance in 1891, Havildar Ramzan Khan, Punjab Frontier Force, was the first Indian to be awarded the medal.

Specifications

There are three versions of the medal. The standard silver medal Template:Convert without any attachments, the reduced gold medal Template:Convert without any attachments and the reduced silver medal Template:Convert with attachments to suspend around neck. The obverse side contains an effigy of Major General Sir Charles MacGregor. Inscribed on the upper periphery is "Major General Sir Charles MacGregor KCB CSI CIE". Inscribed on the lower periphery is "In Memoriam 1887". The reserve side contains various figures of army personnel. Details of the awardee are inscribed on the outer rim.Template:Sfnp The colours of the ribbon are (from left to right) — Red, Green, Red, Green, Black, White, Black, Green, Red, Green, Red. The colours are based on the 'MacGregor tartan'.Template:Sfnp

Recent winners

Pre-1947 recipients

Key

  • No. – Award number
  • Rank – Rank at the time of the award
  • Year – Year in which the exploration for which the award was given took place

Template:HrTemplate:Multiple image Only recipients with articles have been listed

No. Name Rank Year Ref/Notes
1 MS Bell Colonel 1889 [2]
2 F Younghusband Captain 1890 [2]
8 H Bower Captain 1893 [2]
12 HR Davies Captain 1895 [2]
14 GK Cockerill Lieutenant 1896 [2]
16 EJE Swayne Captain 1897 [2]
18 HB Walker Captain 1898 [2]
41 KBS Jang Subedar 1910 [2]
44 G Leachman Captain 1911 [2]
52 FM Bailey Captain 1914 Template:Sfn
53 HT Morshead Captain 1914 Template:Sfn
60 EWC Noel Captain 1918 Template:Sfn
61 EH Keeling Lieutenant Colonel 1919 [2]
63 LVS Blacker Captain 1920 [2]
65 AL Holt Major 1921 [2]
69 JG Bruce Captain 1923 [2]
76 CHGH Harvey–Kelly Major 1926 [2]
99 OC Wingate Major General 1943 [2]

Post-1947 recipients

Awards were accompanied with entries in the Register for MacGregor Medal. The entry for Captain S.L. Tugnait, awarded for 1958, reads:[8] Template:BlockquoteTemplate:Complete list

No. Service Name Awardee details Year Notes
Rank Other details
104. Template:Flagicon image ZC Bakshi Major VrC, 2nd Bn, 5th Gorkha Rifles (F.F) 1949 [2]
105. Template:Flagicon image IC Katoch Colonel MBE, 6th Bn, 5th Gorkha Rifles (F.F) 1951 [2]
106. Template:Flagicon image MS Jarg Captain 3rd Bn, Jat Regiment 1956 [2]
107. Template:Flagicon image IB Goel 2nd Lieutenant Bengal Engineers Group 1956 [2]
108. Template:Flagicon image Vinod Badhwar Captain 5th Bn, 5th Gorkha Rifles (F.F) 1957 [2]
109. Template:Flagicon image SL Tugnait Captain Air Op Squadron, Regiment of Artillery 1958 [8]
110. Template:Flagicon image ML Whig Brigadier MVC FRGS, 2nd Bn, 5th Gorkhas Rifles (F.F) 1969 [2]
111. Template:Flagicon image Prem Chand Major VSM, 13th Bn, Dogra Regiment 1970 [2]
112. Template:Flagicon image CS Nugyal Colonel 6th Bn, Sikh Regiment 1971 [2]
113. Template:Flagicon image Ravindra Misra Captain 4th Bn, 3rd Gorkha Rifles 1972 [2]
114. Template:Flagicon image Bel Bahadur Pun Subedar 4th Bn, 3rd Gorkha Rifles 1972 [2]
115. Template:Flagicon image Narender Kumar Colonel PVSM, KC, AVSM (Retd) Kumaon Regiment 1978 to 1981 [2]
116. Template:Flagicon image Ram Karan Makkar Squadron Leader 127 HU, Indian Air Force 1986 Template:Sfnp
117. Template:Flagicon image Rana TS Chhina Flight Lieutenant 127 HU, Indian Air Force 1986 Template:Sfnp
118. Template:Flagicon image NJ Korgaokar Lieutenant Colonel SM, Garhwal Regiment 1997 Template:Sfnp
119. Template:Flagicon image Rahul Monga Wing Commander SC, Indian Air Force 2007 [7]
120. Template:Flagicon image Soumik Ghosh Flight Lieutenant SC, Indian Air Force 2010 [7]
121. Template:Flagicon image Dilip Donde Commander Indian Navy 2010 [6]
122. Template:Flagicon image Abhilash Tomy Lieutenant Commander KC, NM, Indian Navy 2013 [5]
123. Template:Flagicon image Sanjay Kumar Electrical Artificer (P) 3 Indian Navy 2020 [4]
124. Template:Flagicon image Rahul Kumar Pandey Chief Electrical Artificer (Radio) Indian Navy 2023 [3]
125. Template:Flagicon image Ram Ratan Jat Chief Electrical Aircraft Artificer (Radio) Indian Navy 2024 [3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The MacGregor Memorial Medal, Chhina, Squadron Leader (Retd) Rana TS. United Service Institution of India. Journal of the United Service Institution of India, Vol. CL, No. 622(October–December 2020). Retrieved 2021-02-25.
  2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22 2.23 2.24 2.25 2.26 2.27 2.28 Macgregor Medal. United Service Institution of India. Template:Webarchive. Archived on 1 January 2021.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Template:Cite tweet
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Award of Mac Gregor Memorial Medal. Indian Navy. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Who is Indian Navy Commander Abhilash Tomy?. India Today(24 September 2018). Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Book Release: A Solo Circumnavigation. Sainik Samachar(September 2014). Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Fabulous Fliers, Upasani, Wg Cdr Mahesh. Sainik Samachar(September 2017). Retrieved 2021-02-13.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Enemy at the gates and a 910-km walk, Singh, Lt-Gen (retd) Baljit. Tribune India(28 June 2020). Retrieved 2021-02-12.

Bibliography

USI Journals

Template:Awards and decorations of the Indian Armed Forces

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