1854 India General Service Medal. Fletcher. Royal Welsh Fusiliers. 3rd Burmese War.

Correctly named in running script 3127 Pte J Fletcher 1st B RW Fus

As the medal tells us, James served with the 1st Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers. The medal bears the clasp Burma 1885-7.

The Third Anglo Burmese War, also known as the Third Burma War, took place during 7–29 November 1885, with sporadic resistance continuing into 1887. It was the final of three wars fought in the 19th century between the Burmese and the British. The war saw the loss of sovereignty of an independent Burma under the Konbaung dynasty, whose rule had already been reduced to the territory known as Upper Burma, the region of Lower Burma having been annexed by the British in 1853, as a result of the Second Anglo-Burmese War.

Following the war, Burma came under the rule of the British Raj as a province of British India. From 1937, the British governed Burma as a separate colony until Burma achieved independence as a republic in 1948.

There is a record for ‘a’ James Fletcher leaving the UK in 1883 aboard the ‘Jumna’, aged 20, though they have his regiment as the Northumberland Fusiliers. A mistake in translation maybe?

The medal has a short length of original ribbon.