Awarded to Admiral of the Fleet Andrew Brown Cunningham, Lord Cunningham of Hyndhope (1883-1963). Obverse Bust of Queen Victoria, crowned and veiled, with order (left) Legend: 'VICTORIA REGINA ET IMPERATRIX'. Reverse: Britannia standing wearing a helmet (right), a flag in her left hand, holding out a wreath in her right hand towards troops on the march, ships in distance. Legend: 'SOUTH AFRICA'. Inscription on edge: 'MID. A.B. CUNNINGHAM.RN'. Bars: 'CAPE COLONY', 'ORANGE FREE STATE', 'DIAMOND HILL', 'BELFAST'. Fitted with a bar and orange ribbon edged with red, with two narrow blue stripes. Mounted on a bar with twenty others.

Midshipman Cunningham was serving on the Cape of Good Hope Station in HMS ‘Doris’ when the 2nd Boer War began. In 1900 he saw active service on shore in the Naval Brigade. Two of the bars on this medal are of particular interest. After Pretoria was captured by the British, the Boer forces under Botha established a defensive line to the east of the city. They were forced to retreat by the British thus preventing the recapture of Pretoria. This action became known as Diamond Hill. Cunningham’s last bar was awarded for presence at a battle fought around the farm of Bergendal near the town of Belfast. A smaller Boer force under Botha was defeated by a larger British Empire force under General Sir Redvers Buller. Their victory enabled the British to advance on the then capital of the Transvaal, Machadodorp.