The King's Gallantry Medal (KGM), formerly the Queen's Gallantry Medal (QGM), is a United Kingdom decoration awarded for exemplary acts of

bravery Courage (also called bravery, valour ( British and Commonwealth English), or valor (American English)) is the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. Valor is courage or bravery, especially in ...

where the services were not so outstanding as to merit the

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 of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for gallantry, typically ...

, but above the level required for the King's Commendation for Bravery.

History

The Queen's Gallantry Medal was instituted on 20 June 1974 to replace the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

for Gallantry and the

British Empire Medal The British Empire Medal (BEM; formerly British Empire Medal for Meritorious Service) is a British and Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth award for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the Monarchy of the United Ki ...

for Gallantry, which ended the anomaly where the Order of the British Empire for Gallantry was awarded for lesser acts of bravery than the

but took precedence over it in the Order of Wear. In addition, the QGM replaced the Colonial Police Medal for Gallantry (the last award of which was made in November 1974). It ''de facto'' replaced awards of the Sea Gallantry Medal, but this has never been formally announced. The Royal Warrant for the Queen's Gallantry Medal was amended on 30 November 1977 to allow for posthumous awards, as was that for the George Medal. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth II between June 1974 and the final list published in March 2023 after her death, there were 1,101 awards announced in ''

The London Gazette ''The London Gazette'', known generally as ''The Gazette'', is one of the official journals of record or government gazettes of the Government of the United Kingdom, and the most important among such official journals in the United Kingdom, i ...

'', including 19 second award bars. The armed forces received 542 awards and civilians, including police, 559 (including 120 to the

Royal Ulster Constabulary The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) Richard Doherty, ''The Thin Green Line – The History of the ...

, almost twice as many as any other group). Forty-two of the awards were posthumous, and 27 were to women. Since the accession of King

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

, the Queen's Gallantry Medal has been renamed the King's Gallantry Medal. The first six awards of the King's Gallantry Medal were announced on 14 May 2024.

Criteria

The medal is awarded for "exemplary acts of bravery" by civilians, and by members of the Armed Forces for "actions for which purely military Honours are not normally granted". The award is not restricted to

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

subjects.

Description

The medal is silver and circular in shape, 36 mm in diameter, with the following design: * The obverse of the QGM shows the crowned portrait of Queen Elizabeth II by Cecil Thomas and is inscribed "ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA F.D.". * The obverse of the KGM shows a crowned portrait of King Charles III and is inscribed "CHARLES III DEI GRATIA REX FID DEF". * The reverse of the QGM (designed by

Reynolds Stone Alan Reynolds Stone, CBE, RDI (13 March 1909 – 23 June 1979) was an English wood engraver, engraver, designer, typographer and painter. Biography Stone was born on 13 March 1909 at Eton College, where both his grandfather, E. D. Stone, and ...

CBE, RDI) bears the image of a

St Edward's Crown St Edward's Crown is the coronation crown of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. Named after Saint Edward the Confessor, versions of it have traditionally been used to crown English and British monarchs at their coronations since the 13t ...

above the words 'THE QUEEN'S GALLANTRY MEDAL' in four lines, flanked by laurel sprigs. * The reverse of the KGM retains the general components of the original design but now shows the Tudor crown and is inscribed ‘THE KING’S GALLANTRY MEDAL’, in a subtly different, serif font. * The 32 mm wide ribbon is of "Garter" blue, with a central stripe of pearl grey, within which is a narrow stripe of rose pink; the grey and rose colours represent the Order of the British Empire, which the medal replaced. While awards to women generally have the ribbon fashioned into a bow, female recipients in the armed forces or civilian uniformed services have the medal presented with the ribbon in the same style as for male recipients. * The name of the recipient is impressed on the rim of the medal. When awarded to members of the Armed Forces, service number, rank, and unit are also included. * A further award of the medal is indicated by a silver bar ornamented with laurel leaves worn on the ribbon. When the ribbon alone is worn, a silver rosette denotes a further award. Recipients are entitled to the

post-nominal letters Post-nominal letters, also called post-nominal initials, post-nominal titles, designatory letters, or simply post-nominals, are letters placed after a person's name to indicate that the individual holds a position, an academic degree, accreditation ...

"Q.G.M" or "K.G.M.".

Notable recipients

Among the more notable recipients are: * Charles Bruce, former 22

Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling, and in 1950 it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terr ...

Soldier. Awarded in November 1986 for his conduct in Operation Banner, Northern Ireland in December 1984. * Peter Edmonds, Metropolitan Police Officer. Awarded in March 1974 for his actions during the kidnap attempt of

Anne, Princess Royal Anne, Princess Royal (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950) is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the only sister of King ...

. * Guy Edwards, former Formula 1 driver. Awarded for assisting in the rescue of

Niki Lauda Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda (22 February 1949 – 20 May 2019) was an Austrian racing driver, motorsport executive and aviation entrepreneur, who competed in Formula One from to and from to . Lauda won three Formula One World Drivers' Champ ...

from his blazing Ferrari 312T at the 1976 German Grand Prix at the

Nürburgring The () is a 150,000-person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long configuration, built in the 1920s ...

. * John Leonard Graham GM. Detective Senior Constable,

Queensland Police Service The Queensland Police Service (QPS) is the principal law enforcement agency responsible for policing the Australian state of Queensland. In 1990, the Queensland Police Force was officially renamed the Queensland Police Service and the old motto ...

. Awarded in 1976 for the rescue of 36 occupants of the Coolangatta Hotel, after an arsonist set the hotel on fire on New Years Day, 1975. David Lacon (now Hewett-Lacon) and Ian Rogers also received the QGM for this rescue. Three police officers whom Rogers asked for urgent assistance, because flames were threatening to engulf both him and a semi conscious Lacon, either turned away, or said it was 'too dangerous', and then turned away. This incident is remarked upon in Nick Metcalfe's book. Graham had previously been awarded the George Medal for bravery in 1973, and was subsequently awarded the Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct.Among 40 QGMs to Australians, gazetted after the creation of Australian Honours System but before 5 October 1992, when any future awards to Australians are treated by Australia as foreign awards. Accounts of all Australian recipients is included in ''For Exemplary Bravery: The Queens Gallantry Medal'' by Nick Metcalfe, see sources below. * Daniel Hellings, a 19-year-old Private from the 2nd Mercian Regiment of the British Army. Awarded in 2010 for uncovering several IED bombs in a combat situation in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. *Chris Jewell and Jason Mallinson, two members of the British teams involved in the 2018 Tham Luang cave rescue. * Anthony David Lacon (now Hewett-Lacon), a 23-year-old Queensland Police officer. Awarded in 1976 for multiple rescues from the Coolangatta Hotel fire, when John Graham and Ian Rogers also received the QGM. * Stephen Oake, an anti-terrorism detective who was given the award posthumously after being murdered in Crumpsall,

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

by Islamic terrorist Kamel Bourgass. Oake had prevented the al-Qaeda member from attacking his colleagues, despite being unarmed himself and having suffered eight serious stab wounds. * Ian Kenneth Rogers, a 21-year-old Queensland Police officer. Awarded in 1976 for multiple rescues from the Coolangatta Hotel fire, when John Graham and Anthony Lacon also received the QGM. *Michael Tanner. Police Inspector,

British Transport Police British Transport Police (BTP; ) is a national special police force that polices the railway network of England, Wales and Scotland, which consists of over 10,000 miles of track and 3,000 stations and depots. BTP also polices the London Under ...

. Awarded in 2003 for his actions in detaining a violent offender in Finsbury Park despite being stabbed twice himself. *

John Smeaton John Smeaton (8 June 1724 – 28 October 1792) was an English civil engineer responsible for the design of bridges, canals, harbours and lighthouses. He was also a capable mechanical engineer and an eminent scholar, who introduced various ...

, former baggage handler. Awarded in December 2007 for his actions in the 2007 Glasgow International Airport attack. * Ranger Cyril J. Smith, 2nd Bn Royal Irish Rangers; killed by a

proxy bomb The proxy bomb, also known as a human bomb, is a tactic that was used mainly by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) in Northern Ireland during the conflict known as "the Troubles". It involved forcing people (including off-duty members ...

at a border checkpoint at Killeen, County Armagh,

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

on 24 October 1990. A Catholic man, Patrick Gillespie, who had been a civilian employee of the British Army, was forced to drive where the soldiers would be, or his two sons would be shot. He was to tell the soldiers they had forty minutes to get clear but within seconds of reaching the checkpoint, the bomb exploded. Smith, also a Catholic, died trying to warn colleagues and was awarded the Queens Gallantry Medal posthumously. * Dominic Troulan. Awarded in May 1996 for service in Northern Ireland. After service in the Royal Marines and British Army, in June 2017 he became the first living British civilian to be awarded the George Cross since 1974 and the first holder of both the George Cross and the QGM. *Stanley MacLeod. Diving Superintendent on the

Piper Alpha Piper Alpha was an oil platform located in the North Sea about north-east of Aberdeen, Scotland. It was operated by Occidental Petroleum, Occidental Petroleum (Caledonia) Limited (OPCAL) and began production in December 1976, initially as an oi ...

oil platform, for leading 19 men to safety after the North Sea structure exploded. *David Michael Groves.

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

sailor on HMS ''

Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle; , ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county of western Scotland. The county ceased to be used for local government purposes in 1975 and most of the area ...

''. Awarded on 25 Feb 2020, for the dramatic rescue of 27 mariners from '' Grande America'', which caught fire in rough seas in the

Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay ( ) is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Point Penmarc'h to the Spanish border, and along the northern coast of Spain, extending westward ...

. *Leon McLeod. Police Constable,

. Awarded in October 2018 for his actions during the 2017 London Bridge attack *Michael Hooper. Police Sergeant, Leicestershire Police. Awarded in May 2021 for his actions during the 2018 helicopter crash outside Leicester City Football club *Stephen Quartermain. Police Constable, Leicestershire Police. Awarded in May 2021 for his actions during the 2018 helicopter crash outside Leicester City Football club

References

Sources