page_title: Tonkin Expedition commemorative medal
section_title: Eligibility and distribution
hierarchical_section_title: Tonkin Expedition commemorative medal / Eligibility and distribution
caption_attribution_description: English: Monnaie_de_Paris_facade
context_page_description: The Tonkin Expedition commemorative medal was awarded to all the French soldiers and sailors who took part in the battles of the Tonkin campaign and the Sino-French War between 1883 and 1885. The medal, decreed by a law of 6 September 1885, was minted at the Monnaie de Paris and distributed shortly before the Bastille Day parade on 14 July 1886 to around 65,000 soldiers and sailors. The medal was later awarded to participants in a number of earlier and later campaigns in Indochina, bringing the total number of recipients to 97,300.
context_section_description: The medal, minted at the Monnaie de Paris, was initially distributed to participants in the campaigns in Tonkin, Annam and China between 1883 and 1885.  No distinction was made between combatants and non-combatants.  Administrative and support staff, including cantinières and officials working in the treasury, postal and military telegraphy services, were eligible for the award of the medal.  The medal was not awarded to participants whose service records were marred by serious military offences or habitual misconduct.
  In the cases of men who had died on active service, the medal was awarded as a souvenir to a near relative (in order of preference the deceased man's eldest son, widow, father, mother or eldest brother).
  Each medal recipient was also given a diploma issued by the navy ministry (Ministère de la Marine) or the army ministry (Ministère de la Guerre).
  A law of 27 July 1887 extended the medal's distribution to servicemen who had taken part in various expeditions in Indochina since the end of the Sino-French War and to those who had fought in Tonkin under Francis Garnier in 1873 and in the early campaigns of Henri Rivière in 1882.  The medal was eventually issued to all servicemen who had campaigned between 1885 and 1893 in Tonkin, Annam, Cambodia, Siam and the Upper Mekong, bringing the total number of recipients to 97,300.
caption: The Monnaie de Paris
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