The Union of South Africa Queen's Medal for Bravery, Silver is the lesser of two classes of a South African civil decoration for acts of bravery that was in use from 1952 to 1961, while the country was still a constitutional monarchy in the

British Commonwealth The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...

. The decoration was instituted by Queen Elizabeth II on 15 December 1952.South African Medal Website - Union of South Africa
(Accessed 1 May 2015)

Institution

The Union of South Africa Queen's Medal for Bravery, Silver, the lesser of two classes of South Africa's highest civilian decoration for bravery, was instituted by Royal Warrant of 15 December 1952, published in Government Gazette no. 5013 dated 27 February 1953. The medal replaced the

Union of South Africa King's Medal for Bravery, Silver The Union of South Africa King's Medal for Bravery, Silver is the lesser of two classes of a South African civil decoration for acts of bravery that was in use from 1939 to 1952, when the country was a constitutional monarchy in the British Comm ...

, after the accession to the British Throne of Queen Elizabeth II on 6 February 1952.

Award criteria

The earlier King's Medal for Bravery, Silver was awarded to recognise acts of gallantry performed in the face of imminent and obvious peril by those residents of the

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa ( nl, Unie van Zuid-Afrika; af, Unie van Suid-Afrika; ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the Cape, Natal, Tran ...

or its dependent territories who endangered their lives in the act of saving, or endeavouring to save, the lives of others. Upon the institution of the Queen's Medal for Bravery, Silver, the conditions of eligibility that had applied to the King's Medal were expanded to include non-citizens of the Union for acts of gallantry within the Union or while saving or endeavouring to save the lives of citizens of the Union elsewhere.

Order of wear

In the British order of precedence, the Union of South Africa Queen's Medal for Bravery, Silver ranks as a third level decoration, equivalent to the

Queen's Gallantry Medal The Queen's Gallantry Medal (QGM) is a United Kingdom decoration awarded for exemplary acts of bravery where the services were not so outstanding as to merit the George Medal, but above the level required for the Queen's Commendation for Braver ...

. It is preceded in order of wear by the

Indian Distinguished Service Medal The Indian Distinguished Service Medal (IDSM) was a military decoration awarded by the British Empire to Indian citizens serving in the Indian armed forces and military police. When it was instituted in 1907 it was the second highest award avail ...

and succeeded by the Distinguished Service Medal. In South Africa, the medal is ranked as a second level decoration and, despite its status, it has no post-nominal letters. It is preceded by the

Louw Wepener Decoration The Louw Wepener Decoration, post-nominal letters LWD, is a military decoration for bravery which was instituted by the Union of South Africa in 1952. It was awarded to members of the South African Defence Force for acts of the most conspicuous ...

and succeeded by the

South African Police Cross for Bravery The South African Police Cross for Bravery was a high-ranking decoration, that existed between 1963 and 2004. It initially had only one class, but it was expanded to three classes in 1988. First type Instituted on 20 May 1963, retrospective t ...

.''Government Gazette of the Republic of South Africa'' No 27376 (11 March 2005) The medal ranks on par with the earlier Union of South Africa King's Medal for Bravery, Silver and the subsequent

Woltemade Decoration for Bravery, Silver The Woltemade Decoration for Bravery, Silver is the lesser of two classes of a South African civil decoration for acts of bravery. It replaced the King's Medal for Bravery, Silver and Queen's Medal for Bravery, Silver, the award of which was di ...

Description

;Obverse :The decoration is struck in silver and is a disk, 38 millimetres in diameter with a raised rim and a large ring suspender. The obverse depicts the crowned effigy of Queen Elizabeth II, facing right and surrounded by the inscription "ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA F. D." around the perimeter. ;Reverse :The reverse is identical to that of the King's Medal for Bravery, Silver and depicts the 18th-century Cape hero

Wolraad Woltemade Wolraad Woltemade (c.1708 – 1 June 1773) was a 65 year old Cape Dutch dairy farmer, who died while rescuing sailors from the wreck of the ship ''De Jonge Thomas'' in Table Bay on 1 June 1773. The story was reported by the Swedish naturali ...

on his horse, rescuing shipwreck survivors from a stormy sea. The image is circumscribed around the top in English and Afrikaans with the words "FOR BRAVERY • VIR DAPPERHEID".Abbott, P.E. and Tamplin, J.M.A. (1971). ''British Gallantry Awards''. Guinness Superlatives. ;Ribbon :The ribbon is also identical to that of the King's Medal for Bravery, Silver, 44 millimetres wide and dark blue with 4½ millimetres wide orange edges.

Discontinuation

The Union of South Africa Queen's Medal for Bravery, Silver was discontinued upon the establishment of the Republic of South Africa on 31 May 1961. It was succeeded by the

that was instituted on 20 May 1970.

Recipient

Only one award of the Union of South Africa Queen's Medal for Bravery, Silver was made, gazetted on 27 March 1953, to Mr Lauritz Richard Nilsen, who saved a friend who had been swimming and whose leg had been bitten off by a shark at

Winklespruit Winklespruit is a small seaside resort north of the mouth of the Illovo River in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It forms part of eThekwini. On May 10, 1875 the schooner ''Tonga'' which was carrying wares for Durban was wrecked here. The sailors no ...

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

References

{{Decorations of the United Kingdom 068 Civil awards and decorations of the United Kingdom Awards established in 1952