B/1/47/7

B/1/47/11

The object (no. 546) is a British-made replica of the Goetz medal. It’s an example of thousands that were mass-produced by the British Foreign Office as anti-German propaganda during the aftermath of the sinking of RMS Lusitania. This replica (metal and diecast iron) was made in 1916 by Harry Gordon Selfridge, an American retail magnate who founded the London-based department store Selfridges. It was probably donated to the Commissioners of Irish Lights by the Captain of Granuaile, Brendan [Benny] Forde, who sadly passed away last year. He may have bought it in a store, being one of the many replicas in circulation. This is the reason why we have the artefact in our Baily Museum collection.
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On the 7th of May 1915, German U-boat U20 sunk the Cunard ocean liner the RMS Lusitania 18km off the coast of Cork, killing approx. 1,200 passengers and crew. This action immediately drew the ire of Goetz. He placed the blame squarely on the British Government and Cunard line for allowing the vessel to continue sailing through waters in which German submarines were known to be active. He struck and sold a small amount of medals deriding this prioritisation of profit over human life and safety. Unfortunately, Goetz had made one crucial mistake. He struck the date of the sinking on the coin as the 5th of May, two days earlier then it had taken place.

Sinking of the LusItania

It was this mistake which led to the creation of our medal. After learning of the medal’s existence, British Head of Naval Intelligence Captain Reginald Hall sought to use it as evidence of the Lusitania’s sinking being premeditated. Photos of the medal were sent to America where they soon appeared in the New York Times, along with a false claim that the medal had been awarded to the U-boat crew. The attention this garnered in the US served as a distraction from the suppression of the Easter Rising in Dublin and the quick execution of its organisers. The Foreign Office then began to reproduce and sell the medal on mass. It was accompanied by a propaganda leaflet denouncing Germany and highlighting the 5th May date.
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The replica has the date translated to English but otherwise is identical in appearance to Goetz’s original design. The obverse side features the Lusitania sinking with the caption ‘Keine Bannware!’/’No Contraband!’. The reverse side shows Death behind a Cunard Line desk selling tickets to a crowd of passengers. This side also features a man reading a newspaper with the headline ‘U Boot Gefahr’/’U-Boat Danger’. It is captioned along the upper edge with ‘Geschäft Über Alles’/Business Above All’.

Baily Museum Collection, Object number: 546

Upon realising his mistake, Goetz quickly issued a second medal with the correct date. The Bavarian War Office too hoped to limit the damage done by the mistake and ordered all copies of the medal be confiscated.  However, this was all too late; the British replica medals sold an estimated 300,000 copies. Medals like the one in our collection scored a propaganda victory for Great Britain during WW1, something that was only possible due to a small printing error.

References:
Baily Museum Collection, Object number: 546
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Lighthouse Journals Series
B/1/47/7 (1913-1916)
B/1/47/11 (1913-1916)

https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/how-a-german-medallion-became-a-british-propaganda-tool
MHS Collections Online: Sinking of the <i>Lusitania</i>, [second version of obverse], 1915 (masshist.org)  
Lusitania medallion, British issue | Australian War Memorial (awm.gov.au)