Help with Goetz Lusitania medal

Greig

I am in the process of preparing a series of presentations for a local seniors educational program on WW One; I am covering 1915 (since this is the centennial year) and will be discussing the sinking of the Lusitania. I have some general knowledge of the Goetz medal and the British copy. What I could use some help with is understanding why the fact that Goetz used the wrong date (May 5) in his first version of the medal was used by the British to suggest some nefarious plot by the Germans to sink the liner. Anybody here able to shed some light on this subject for me?

Thanks.

Zohar

LINK

Greig

Thanks.

I had found that website in doing some research last week, but it doesn't seem to explain why the May 5 date error was made into something sinister by the British.

cacheman

Cliff Note Version

First, It was a mistake by Goetz and it gave him heartburn for the rest of his life. He is now known to have made mistakes when placing dates or numbers, K-288 for instance, on his medals. Anyway, when the MAI 5 medal appeared in the market and outside of Germany, Britain's propaganda machine immediately concluded and disseminated that the Germans had intentionally planned for sinking the Lusitania which was actually sunk on MAI 7. Goetz immediately tried to retrieve as many of the 180 medals he had already made with the MAI 5 date but, of course, he couldn't and didn't get them all back. He then reissued the medal with the corrected date but the damage was done. The Triple Entente knew that a common German artist likely did not have secret military information but used the mistake to their full advantage anyway.

PM me if you need more info. Greg Burns has written an entire book about these medals too.

OldEastside

This is cool and very interesting........learn stuff everyday

Steve