International Class War Prisoners Aid Medal, 33mm, silver and enamel, hallmarks for London...

International Class War Prisoners Aid Medal, 33mm, silver and enamel, hallmarks for London 1925, the obverse centre depicting two hands reaching out from behind a barred prison window, one hand clasping a red enamelled flaming torch or red flag, embossed around ‘International Class War Prisoners Aid’, the reverse engraved ‘Presented to G. Thomas For Services Rendered in the Class War, Great Mining Lockout 1926’, suspended from a narrow red riband with pin brooch and an additional plain silver ribbon clasp, possibly noting a second term of imprisonment, in somewhat distressed case, nearly extremely fine, rare £100-£140 --- The International Class War Prisoners Aid Society, founded in 1924, was an organisation formed by the Communist Party of Great Britain, its aim being to give legal aid, financial assistance and moral support to workers who were imprisoned or lost jobs due to taking direct action. The General Strike of 1926 was called by the General Council of the Trades Union Congress in an attempt to force the British government to act to prevent wage reductions and worsening conditions in the mining industry. About 1.2 million coal miners, who had refused to agree to the coal owners’ demands for reductions in pay and conditions had been subjected to a national lock-out.