The Queen's South Africa Medal is a British campaign medal awarded to British and Colonial military personnel, and to civilians employed in an official capacity, who served in the Second Boer War in South Africa.

Since the war was initially expected to be of short duration and to reach its conclusion in 1900, the first medals were struck with the years "1899" and "1900" on the reverse.

[1] Poor logistics and disease, combined with having to fight against a disciplined and capable enemy of excellent horsemen and marksmen who perfected guerrilla warfare, made this a hard-won medal.

In addition to men often having to go without basics such as food and water, enteric fever killed several thousand and was a constant drain on manpower.

Those who qualified for the medal included members of the British Army, Royal Navy, hospital nurses[2] colonial forces from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, India, as well as locally raised units from the Cape of Good Hope, the Natal and "hensoppers" (collaborators, literally "hands-uppers") from the South African Republic and Orange Free State, civilians employed in an official capacity, war correspondents, and non-enlisted men of whatever nationality who drew military pay.

The medal, without clasp, was awarded to nurses, members of the Royal Navy who served offshore but did not land[2] and to the troops who guarded Boer prisoners on the island of Saint Helena.

[1] A separate King's South Africa Medal was instituted in 1902 by King Edward VII for those who had served in South Africa after 1 January 1902 and who had completed 18 months service in the conflict, not necessarily continuous, prior to the war's end on 1 June 1902.

Clasps were often issued after the medal, in particular those for South Africa 1901 and 1902, with the result that they were sometimes attached with unofficial rivets, or worn loose on the ribbon.

[4] About 1,500 medals were presented unnamed to members of Australian and New Zealand forces during the 1901 tour of those countries by the future King George V. Many were later named locally, either officially at public expense, or privately.