The Union of South Africa King's Medal for Bravery, Gold was the highest South African civilian decoration during the period between 1910 and 1961, when the country was 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 medal was instituted by King George VI on 23 June 1939.

Institution

The (Union of South Africa) King's Medal for Bravery, Gold, the senior of two classes of South Africa's highest civilian decoration for bravery, was instituted by Royal Warrant of 23 June 1939, published in Government Gazette no. 2671 dated 25 August 1939, and amended by Royal Warrants of 18 February 1947, 24 October 1949 and 17 October 1950. The decoration filled the gap left by the withdrawal of British awards such as the Albert Medal and the

Edward Medal The Edward Medal was a British civilian decoration which was instituted by royal warrant on 13 July 1907 to recognise acts of bravery of miners and quarrymen in endangering their lives to rescue their fellow workers. The medal was named in hono ...

, which had ceased to be available to South Africans in 1934. It predated the institution of the George Cross and

George Medal The George Medal (GM), instituted on 24 September 1940 by King George VI,''British Gallantry Medals'' (Abbott and Tamplin), p. 138 is a decoration of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth, awarded for gallantry, typically by civilians, or in cir ...

in 1940, for which South Africans were eligible.

Award criteria

The medal was awarded to recognise great and exceptional gallantry performed in the face of imminent and obvious peril by 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.South African Medals Website - Union of South Africa
(Accessed 1 May 2015)

Order of wear

In the British order of precedence, the Union of South Africa King's Medal for Bravery, Gold ranks as a second level decoration, equivalent to the

. It is preceded by the

Venerable Order of Saint John The Order of St John, short for Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (french: l'ordre très vénérable de l'Hôpital de Saint-Jean de Jérusalem) and also known as St John International, is a British royal order of ...

and succeeded by the

Distinguished Conduct Medal The Distinguished Conduct Medal was a decoration established in 1854 by Queen Victoria for gallantry in the field by other ranks of the British Army. It is the oldest British award for gallantry and was a second level military decoration, ranki ...

. In South Africa, the medal is ranked as a first level decoration but, despite its status, it has no post-nominal letters. It is preceded by the

Honoris Crux Gold The Honoris Crux Gold (Gold Cross of Honour), post-nominal letters HCG, is a South African military decoration for bravery which was instituted in 1975. It was awarded to members of the South African Defence Force for outstanding acts of brav ...

and succeeded by the

Woltemade Cross for Bravery, Gold The Woltemade Cross for Bravery, Gold, post-nominal letters WD, is the senior of two classes of a South African civil decoration for acts of bravery. It replaced the Union of South Africa King's Medal for Bravery, Gold, Union of South Africa Qu ...

.''Government Gazette of the Republic of South Africa'' No 27376 (11 March 2005)

Description

;Obverse :The decoration is silver-gilt and is a disk, 38 millimetres in diameter with a raised rim and a large ring suspender. The obverse depicts the crowned effigy of King George VI, facing left, surrounded by the words "GEORGIVS VI REX ET IMPERATOR" around the upper perimeter.Image of the Union of South Africa King's Medal for Bravery, Silver (Retrieved 2015-02-23)
/ref> ;Reverse :A public competition was held to find a suitable design for the reverse of the medal. The winning entry, by Miss Renee Joubert, 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. As a result, the medal became commonly referred to as the "Woltemade Medal". The image is circumscribed with the words "FOR BRAVERY • VIR DAPPERHEID" around the top.Abbott, P. E. and Tamplin, J. M. A. (1971). ''British Gallantry Awards''. Guinness Superlatives. ;Ribbon :The ribbon is 44 millimetres wide and dark blue with 4½ millimetres wide orange edges.

Discontinuation

Upon the accession to the British Throne of Queen Elizabeth II on 15 December 1952, the Union of South Africa King's Medal for Bravery, Gold was discontinued and replaced by the

Union of South Africa Queen's Medal for Bravery, Gold The Union of South Africa Queen's Medal for Bravery, Gold was the highest South African civilian decoration during the period from 1952 to 1961, while the country was still a constitutional monarchy in the British Commonwealth. The decoration wa ...

Recipient

The Union of South Africa King's Medal for Bravery, Gold was awarded only once, on 8 September 1944 to Luis Freixial. Luis was fourteen years old on 6 January 1943 when he rescued the two-year-old Cody Law from a 40 feet deep well with deep water into which he had fallen at

Parys Parys (pronounced ) is a town situated on the banks of the Vaal River in the Free State province of South Africa. The name of the town is the Afrikaans translation of Paris. The name was given by a German surveyor named Schilbach who had partic ...

in the

Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( nl, Oranje Vrijstaat; af, Oranje-Vrystaat;) was an independent Boer sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeat ...

References

{{Decorations of the United Kingdom 003 Civil awards and decorations of the United Kingdom Awards established in 1939