Stunning South African Police Group of Medals

[Mervyn Mitton]

Back in early December I posted on British Medals a very good old South African Medal Group.

(Now on page 2 of that Forum.) Research has been completed on that Group and I will soon

post the results.

However, this week I had a surprise when the Police Group to his Grandson was also brought -in.

This seems to have been for the 1960's and 70's and therefore is being posted on our dedicated

Sth. African Forum. This was the period of the Border Wars when S.A. was fighting to protect S.W.

Africa (now Namibia). Angola was making forays into SWA - which was a Protectorate at that time.

They were strongly supported by Cuba - who in turn were the fighting arm for Russia.

Conscription existed and most of the younger white Sth. Africans fought either in the Services - or,

in the Police.

I will show the group and associated pictures and then discuss the individual medals. With the exception

of a lesser long service, all are named on the cross bar, beneathe the ribbon. He is identified as a

full Colonel - also, spelt Kolonel - the Afrikaans.

[Mervyn Mitton]

http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_03_2012/post-6209-0-53280000-1332515148.jpgCLICK TO ENLARGE

[Mervyn Mitton]

http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_03_2012/post-6209-0-48763100-1332515406.jpgCLICK TO ENLARGE

[Mervyn Mitton]

http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_03_2012/post-6209-0-58501000-1332515562.jpgCLICK TO ENLARGE

[Mervyn Mitton]

http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_03_2012/post-6209-0-58955700-1332515703.jpgCLICK TO ENLARGE

[Mervyn Mitton]

http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_03_2012/post-6209-0-67645000-1332515844.jpgCLICK TO ENLARGE

[Mervyn Mitton]

Looking at the group from left to right :

1. Star for Merit. The second highest Police award. For 30 years service - or Gallantry. The greater number were

for Gallantry.

2. Star for Faithful Service - an additional and higher award to supplement the two Faithful Service medals in existance.

3. Medal for Faithful Service. This was a lesser award and was not named.

4. Medal for Combatting Terrorism. This was for any Police member who fought against Terrorism - or, who was

stationed in an area of high terrorism. An important award and very sought after by collectors.

I will do a longer report when his papers have been drawn.

[gavinmedals]

Hi, Thank you for the pictures of the SAP group. In terms of the Medal for Faithful Service, or the SA Police Medal for Faithful Service, I have double checked the sources I have and according to the Terence King book this medal was originally instituted to recognise 18 years service in the 1960's. It was subsequently adjusted to recognise 10years service in a warrant published in May 1979. As far as naming is concerned on this specific medal, I have a number of examples in my collection and inspected a few others that have all been named with the SAP force number, rank, initials, surname and date of award. The naming was done on the rim of the medals in the cases I have viewed. I would be keen to hear if you managed to source some information on the person as I have been fairly unlucky with researching SA Police groups thus far and have relied heavily on information and some of the citations that are published in Terence King's book.

[Chris Boonzaier]

Very nice... are they privately engraved?

[gavinmedals]

Hi, no the medals I have seen are not inscribed but rather impressed naming. The naming is very similar in style to that illustrated in the other medals in this section. If interested I can try and take some photos of the naming on one or two examples. Please let me know.

[Aud]

Hello from South Africa

I was just looking at the comments above and thought it might help to let you know what is available in the way of police records.

Just as an aside, Terry King is my ex son in law and I helped him to collate the book on police gallantry awards. This book is a must for anyone interested in police matters and I do have a few copies left.

The police records up to about 1970 are held at the police archives in Pretoria. Unfortunately, there are no files for these men as these were destroyed 10 years after the man left the force. The cards usually give name, force number, date of attestation and discharge, stations in which he served, any courses taken, etc. There is often mention on the cards of the Force Orders relating to the items on the cards. I do have access to these records and can provide photocopies. I have a list of the men who received the Police Good Service Medal for 18 years service and do have Force Orders which record the men who received the Medal for Faithful Service and the Star for Merit. In order to retrieve the copies, I first have to find out whether the records are available and if so, how many photocopies are involved. I then have to go to my local police station and pay a fee for the access to information and also for the copies. The receipt is then taken to Pretoria where I can collect the copies of the cards. I have to search for the Force Orders myself.

The later records are kept at police HQ in Pretoria. It is possible to obtain a printout (usually about 6 pages) giving full details of service, medals, stations served, attestation and discharge details, etc. As with the above, I have to go to my local police station to pay the necessary fees, fax the receipt to police HQ and then copies of the printouts are faxed to me.

I hope that helps.

Audrey

rhino.research@icon.co.za

[Mervyn Mitton]

Audrey did the original research on this group and has my endorsement.

Welcome to GMIC and we look forward to further help. Mervyn

[gavinmedals]

Hi, a rather belated thank you. I will contact and see if there is some additional information can be sourced in terms of the groups I have.