Efficiency Medal

The medal was struck in silver and is oval, 39 mm high and 32 mm wide. The fixed suspender bar, a pair of laurel leaves, is affixed to the medal by means of a single-toe claw and a horizontal pin through the upper edge of the medal. The suspender is decorated on the obverse with a scroll-pattern bar, inscribed with the name of the country. The name of the recipient was impressed on the rim of the medal. • Obverse Three versions of the medal were produced for South Africa, but only the first two were awarded. The obverse has a raised rim on all three versions and bears the crowned effigy of the reigning monarch. • The original version has the effigy of King George V in coronation robes and wearing the Tudor Crown. It is circumscribed "GEORGIVS•V•D•G•BRITT•OMN REX•ET•INDIÆ•IMP•". The initials "BM" at the bottom of the effigy are those of the designer of the obverse, Sir Bertram Mackennal KCVO, an Australian sculptor. • The King George VI version was introduced after his succession to the throne in 1936 and has his effigy in coronation robes and wearing the Tudor Crown, facing left and circumscribed "GEORGIVS•VI•D•G•BR•OMN•REX•ET•INDIÆ•IMP•". It is identical to the first King George VI obverse design of the British Efficiency Medal. The initials "PM" below the effigy are those of the designer of the obverse, sculptor Percy Metcalfe CVO RDI. • Illustration — Queen Elizabeth II version • The Queen Elizabeth II version was introduced after her succession to the throne in 1952 and has her effigy, facing right and wearing the Tudor Crown. It is circumscribed "ELIZABETH II D: G: BR: OMN: REGINA F: D:" reading around from the top. It is identical to the first Queen Elizabeth II obverse design of the British Efficiency Medal. • Scroll bar Approved by a Royal Warrant dated 29 December 1939, the scroll bar inscription on the King George VI version of the medal was in English and Afrikaans, "UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA" and "UNIE VAN SUID-AFRIKA" in two lines. The scroll bar on the Queen Elizabeth II version was English only, but this medal was never awarded since it was superseded within a few months of the Queen's succession to the throne. • Reverse The reverse is smooth with a raised rim and bears the inscription "FOR EFFICIENT SERVICE" in three lines. On the bilingual King George VI version, the Afrikaans and English inscriptions are "VIR BEKWAME DIENS" and "FOR EFFICIENT SERVICE", each language in three lines and the languages separated by a 13 millimetres long line. • Clasp The clasp, struck in silver, is decorated with an embossed Tudor Crown and was designed to be sewn onto the medal ribbon. • Ribbon The ribbon is 32 millimetres wide and dark green, edged with 3 millimetres wide lime yellow bands.

The medal could be awarded to part-time warrant officers, non-commissioned officers and men after twelve years of continuous efficient service as a volunteer on the active list of the Citizen Force. Service in West Africa, natives of West Africa and periods spent on leave excluded, and war service were reckoned two-fold as qualifying service for the medal. Service during the period from 3 September 1939 to 1 March 1950 inclusive need not have been continuous, while breaks in service under certain specified conditions, though not counting as qualifying service, were not considered as a break in the twelve years of continuous qualifying service for the medal. Clasps could initially be awarded to holders of the medal upon completion of eighteen and twenty-four reckoned years of efficient service. This was amended on 26 August 1944 to authorise the award of additional clasps for each additional completed period of six years of efficient service after twenty-four years. When medals are not worn, recipients of clasps would wear a silver rosette on the ribbon bar to donate each clasp. A further amendment, on 10 May 1946, made part-time officers who served during the Second World War also eligible for the award of the medal and clasp, provided they were serving on the active list of the Citizen Force on 2 September 1939 and were embodied or called up for war service. The reason for this amendment originated from the anomaly that, during the war, a large number of officers were commissioned from the ranks, and merely by the fact that they were so promoted owing to their efficiency, would be denied the right to the Efficiency Medal. Such officers were allowed to reckon their service as officers as qualifying service for the medal and clasps. Officers who had already qualified for the award of the Efficiency Decoration before that date were, however, not eligible. The medal was initially only awarded to Citizen Force members of the South African Army and South African Air Force. On 1 August 1942, when the South African Navy was established by the consolidation of the Seaward Defence Force and the South African Division of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve into the South African Naval Forces, eligibility for the award of the medal was extended to South African Naval Citizen Force members.