A bronze satirical medal, celebrating Germany’s challenge to the supremacy of the Royal Navy, and poking fun at Churchill.

Sir Winston Spencer CHURCHILL (1874-1965). - Walther EBERBACH (1866-1944, sculptor and medalist).

A bronze satirical medal, celebrating Germany’s challenge to the supremacy of the British Royal Navy, and poking fun at “Sir” Winston Churchill. [Germany: ] 1916. Bronze (diameter:3 1/4in; 83 mm), signed with ‘EW’ monogram on the obverse, and ‘.19.W.EBERBACH.16.’ on the reverse. Condition: see images

This 1916 medal misses its target, once deliberately: Churchill had resigned as First Lord of the Admiralty in November 1915, and he was not knighted until 1953 (so, the ‘Sir Winston’ is ironic). It was also issued in iron (see the Imperial War Museum example), but the bronze examples are probably rarer.“

Obverse design : warrior, naked and muscular, standing holding a shield in his left hand and a sword in his right. The warrior faces and is dwarfed by an enormous slavering marine monster having both human and reptilian characteristics. The design is surrounded by a beaded and wave decorated edge bearing text obverse text : "HURRA.GERMANIA" & "BRITANNIA RULE THE.WAVES".

Reverse design : submarine, profile of, bows to right. The design is surrounded by a beaded and wave decorated edge reverse text : "SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL DEM. SEEGEWALTIGEN" (indented in three lines above the submarine).

This early First World War satirical piece by the German sculptor and engraver Walther Eberbach celebrates the challenge offered to Britain's world naval supremacy by the menace of the German submarine fleet - which threatened equally warships and merchant vessels. The Germanic hero of the obverse does battle with a grotesque sea monster, symbolising Great Britain and the ironic reverse text pokes fun at the then First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, and is translated as 'Sir Winston Churchill the ruler of the waves’. (https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/8408)