The Commandant General's Medal is a military marksmanship medal which was created by the Commandant General of the South African Defence Force in 1962 and formally instituted by the State President in 1965. It was awarded to the champion shot of the annual South African Defence Force Shooting Championships from 1962 to 1975. The year the award was earned, is shown on a bar which is worn on the ribbon. The award could be won multiple times, with each subsequent award indicated by an additional bar.

The South African military

The Union Defence Forces (UDF) were established in 1912 and renamed the South African Defence Force (SADF) in 1958. On 27 April 1994, it was integrated with six other independent forces into the South African National Defence Force (SANDF).South African Medal Website - SA Defence Force : 1952-1975
(Accessed 30 April 2015)
(Accessed 30 April 2015)Republic of South Africa Government Gazette Vol. 457, no. 25213, Pretoria, 25 July 2003
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Institution

The Commandant General's Medal replaced the

Queen's Medal for Champion Shots in the Military Forces The Medal for the Best Shot in the British Army, Infantry, was instituted by Queen Victoria in 1869 and was awarded annually from 1870 to 1882 to the best shot of the Infantry of the British Army, including the Royal Engineers and the Colonial ...

of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, which stopped being awarded to South Africans after the country became a Republic on 31 May 1961. Even though the new medal was officially sanctioned from 1962 to 1965, the Commandant General was not an official Fount of Honour.South African Medal Website - Legal aspects - Fount of Honour
(Accessed 1 May 2015) The medal was only formally instituted by the State President by Warrant dated 20 January 1965, published in Government Gazette no. 1018 dated 5 February 1965. The regulations, contained in Government Notice 183, were published in Government Gazette no. 1024 dated 12 February 1965.
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Award criteria

From 1962, the medal was awarded to the overall champion shot of the annual South African Defence Force Shooting Championships. The year the award was earned, is shown on a bar which is worn on the ribbon. The award could be won multiple times and each subsequent award to the same champion was indicated by an additional bar.

Order of wear

The position of the Commandant General's Medal in the official order of precedence was revised three times after 1975, to accommodate the inclusion or institution of new decorations and medals, first upon the integration into the South African National Defence Force on 27 April 1994, again in April 1996, when decorations and medals were belatedly instituted for the two former non-statutory forces, the Azanian People's Liberation Army and Umkhonto we Sizwe, and again upon the institution of a new set of awards on 27 April 2003, but it remained unchanged on all three occasions.Republic of South Africa Government Gazette no. 15093, Pretoria, 3 September 1993Republic of South Africa Government Gazette Vol. 477, no. 27376, Pretoria, 11 March 2005. Ribbon - Queen's Medal for Champion Shots

Ribbon - Queen's Medal for Champion Shots

;Official SADF order of precedence: * Preceded by the

of the

. * Succeeded by the

SADF Champion Shot Medal The SADF Champion Shot Medal is a military medal which was instituted by the Republic of South Africa in 1975. It was awarded to the champion shots of the annual South African Defence Force Shooting Championships in the categories of full-bore, ...

. ;Official national order of precedence: * Preceded by the Queen's Medal for Champion Shots in the Military Forces of the United Kingdom. * Succeeded by the SADF Champion Shot Medal. The Queen's Medal for Champion Shots in the Military Forces was omitted in error from the official order of precedence, as published in Government Gazette no. 15093 on 3 September 1993, but included again in Government Gazette no. 27376 on 11 March 2005.

Description

;Obverse The Commandant General's Medal is a medallion struck in silver, 3 millimetres thick at the centre and 38 millimetres in diameter, depicting the five-pointed outline of the Castle of Good Hope, with a laurel between the two points at the bottom and proteas between the others. A roundel in the centre has two crossed rifles over a shooting target, with a shooting range in the background. It is inscribed "KOMMANDANT-GENERAALS-MEDALJE" and "COMMANDANT GENERAL'S MEDAL" below the target, each language in two lines. The suspender is decorated with protea leaves. ;Reverse The reverse has the pre-1994 South African Coat of Arms and the medal number is impressed at the bottom of the medal on the rim.SADF Champion Shot Medal picture
/ref> ;Ribbon The ribbon is 32 millimetres wide, with a 6 millimetres wide light blue band and a 7 millimetres wide dark orange band, repeated in reverse order and separated by a 6 millimetres wide navy blue band in the centre. Dark orange, light blue and navy blue are the colours of the three Arms of the Service, the

South African Army The South African Army is the principal land warfare force of South Africa, a part of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), along with the South African Air Force, South African Navy and South African Military Health Service. ...

, the South African Air Force and the

South African Navy The South African Navy (SA Navy) is the naval warfare branch of the South African National Defence Force. The Navy is primarily engaged in maintaining a conventional military deterrent, participating in counter-piracy operations, fishery prot ...

. ;Bar The bar is of silver and displays the year the award was won on a circular button in the centre. When ribbons alone are worn, separate circular buttons, displaying the respective years, are worn on the ribbon bar to denote each subsequent award of the medal.

Discontinuation

The Commandant General's Medal was discontinued in 1975 and replaced by the

, which was instituted by the State President on 1 October 1975.

Recipients

The champions from 1962 to 1975 are listed in the table.

References

{{Champion shot medals Military decorations and medals of South Africa 1965 establishments in South Africa Awards established in 1965 Military awards and decorations for marksmanship