South Africa Medal

 

The Cape Frontier Wars Between 1834 - 53.

 

Further relevant historical context can be found at the foot of this entry.

 

 

The South Africa Medal was a British Empire campaign medal presented for service during the Cape Frontier Wars. The medal was instituted in 1854 and was awarded to officers and men of the Royal Navy and British Army who had participated in one or more campaigns in Southern Africa: the 'Kaffir' or Frontier Wars of 1834-5 (First Kaffir War, also known as the Sixth Cape Frontier War), 1846-7 (Second Kaffir, Seventh Cape Frontier War), and 1850-3 (Third Kaffir, Eighth Cape Frontier War).

 

Recipients who later qualified for the South Africa Medal (1877-79) were supposed to receive the dated clasps only which would then be fixed to this medal. However, no provision was made for those who qualified for the later medal without clasp.

 

Most of these medals were issued to Army personnel but a small number also went to the Royal Navy and native troops and the next of kin of troops who perished during the sinking of the troopship HMS Birkenhead.

 

 

The medal is circular, 36mm in diameter and was struck in silver. The obverse of this medal bears the head of Queen Victoria and the inscription; 'VICTORIA REGINA'.

 

The reverse depicts a crouching lion drinking from a waterhole in front of a protea bush with the inscription; 'SOUTH AFRICA' above and the date; '1853' below.

 

The ribbon suspender is of the swivelling ornate scroll style, attached to the medal by a claw mount.

 

The recipient's details can be found on the medal's rim impressed in capital letters similar to the style found on the Military General Service Medal.

 

 

 

The medal is 32mm wide and gold in colour with broad and narrow dark blue stripe towards either edge.

 

 

None were authorised for this medal.

 

NB: because no clasps were issued, it is therefore, not immediately possible to determine which war(s) any particular medal was awarded for (reference must be made to the appropriate medal rolls).

 

Further relevant historical context can be found at the foot of this entry.

 

 

 

* It should be noted that the values quoted above reflect the average price that a medal dealer may expect to sell this medal for - please see the ‘things you should know’ web page for more details about valuing medals.

 

** The individual medal price will vary considerably based on the recipient’s details.

 

 

This section contains information on:-

 

- The Cape Frontier Wars.

- The Loss Of HMS Birkenhead.

 

The Cape Frontier Wars - The Xhosa Wars, also known as the Cape Frontier Wars, were a series of nine wars between the Xhosa people and European settlers, from 1779 to 1879, in what is now the Eastern Cape in South Africa. They are also known as 'Africa's 100 Years War', with the different conflicts seen as a series of flare-ups in one long war of attrition - the longest in the history of colonialism in Africa.

 

The wars saw the beginning of the use of firearms by the Xhosa armies. Even so, the various Xhosa governments lost most of their territory and were incorporated into the British Empire. While the wars are mostly seen as being a simple two-sided conflict between European and Xhosa, the reality with its shifting alliances was both fluid and complex.

 

On the European side, relations between the British Empire and the Cape Colony's local settler government were sometimes strained and occasionally even broke down. On the Xhosa side, several groups that are now classed as being Xhosa, such as the Mfengu nation, actually fought on the side of the Cape Colony.

 

The Sixth Frontier War (1834-1836) is known as 'Hintsa's War' by the Xhosa. Hintsa did not instigate the war and, although he gave support to the Xhosa armies which were involved, it was Chief Maqoma who was the primary leader of the Xhosa forces.

 

However of the whole war, Hintsa's murder at the hands of the British authorities became the main feature and point of anger in the memory of the Xhosa.

 

The Seventh Frontier War (1846-1847) was also known as the 'War of the Axe' or the 'Amatola War'.

 

On the colonial side, two main groups were involved: Columns of imperial British troops sent from London, and local mixed-race 'Burgher forces' which were mainly Khoi, Fengu, English settler and Boer commandos, led by their Commander-in-Chief Andries Stockenström. Relations between the British Imperial troops and the local commandos broke down completely during the war.

 

On the Xhosa side, the Ngqika (known to the Europeans as the 'Gaika') were the chief tribe engaged in the war, assisted by portions of the Ndlambe, and the Thembu.

 

The Xhosa forces were over ten times greater in number, and had by this time replaced their traditional weapons with modern firearms. It was their new use of guns that made the Xhosa considerably more effective in fighting the British. The war saw widespread use, by both sides, of scorched earth tactics.

 

The Eighth Frontier War (1850-1853) followed when large numbers of Xhosa were displaced across the Keiskamma by Governor Harry Smith, and these refugees supplemented the original inhabitants there, causing overpopulation and hardship. Those Xhosa who remained in the colony were moved to towns and encouraged to adopt European lifestyles.

 

Harry Smith also attacked and annexed the independent Orange Free State, hanging the Boer resistance leaders, and in the process alienating the Burghers of the Cape Colony. To cover the mounting expenses he then imposed exorbitant taxes on the local people of the frontier and cut the Cape's standing forces to less than five thousand men.

 

In June 1850 there followed an unusually cold winter, together with an extreme drought. It was at this time that Smith ordered the displacement of large numbers of Xhosa squatters from the Kat River region.

 

The war became known as 'Mlanjeni's War', after the prophet Mlanjeni who arose among the homeless Xhosa, and who predicted that the Xhosa would be unaffected by the colonists' bullets. Large numbers of Xhosa began leaving the colony's towns and mobilizing in the tribal areas.

 

This information was taken from ‘Wikipedia’. The original article and details of the authors can be found here. It is reproduced on this web-site under the ‘creative commons’ licence which can be found here.

 

The Loss Of HMS Birkenhead - HMS Birkenhead, also referred to as HM Troopship Birkenhead or steam frigate Birkenhead, was one of the first iron-hulled ships built for the Royal Navy. She was designed as a frigate, but was converted to a troopship before being commissioned.

 

On 26 February 1852, while transporting troops to Algoa Bay, she was wrecked at Danger Point near Gansbaai, 140 kilometres from Cape Town, South Africa.

 

There were not enough serviceable lifeboats for all the passengers, and the soldiers famously stood firm, thereby allowing the women and children to board the boats safely.

 

Only 193 of the 643 people on board survived, and the soldiers' chivalry gave rise to the 'women and children first' protocol when abandoning ship, while the 'Birkenhead drill' of Rudyard Kipling's poem came to describe courage in face of hopeless circumstances.

 

This information was taken from ‘Wikipedia’. The original article and details of the authors can be found here. It is reproduced on this web-site under the ‘creative commons’ licence which can be found here.