Honoris Crux Silver

The Honoris Crux Silver (Silver Cross of Honour), post-nominal letters HCS, is a military decoration for bravery which was instituted by the Republic of South Africa on 1 July 1975. It was awarded to members of the South African Defence Force for exceptional acts of bravery while in great danger. The Honoris Crux Silver was the third most senior in a set of four classes of Honoris Crux decorations, which together replaced the discontinued Honoris Crux of 1952.

The South African military

The Union Defence Forces (UDF) were established in 1912 and renamed the South African Defence Force (SADF) in 1958. On 27 April 1994, it was integrated with six other independent forces into the South African National Defence Force (SANDF).

Institution

The Honoris Crux Silver (Silver Cross of Honour), post-nominal letters HCS, was instituted by the State President on 1 July 1975.

Award criteria

The decoration was awarded to members of the South African Defence Force for exceptional acts of bravery in action, while in great danger. A Bar could be awarded for a further similar deed of bravery. It was the third most senior of a set of four classes of Honoris Crux decorations, the Honoris Crux Diamond, Honoris Crux Gold, Honoris Crux Silver and Honoris Crux, which replaced the discontinued Honoris Crux of 1952.

Order of wear

The position of the Honoris Crux Silver in the official order of precedence was revised twice after 1975, to accommodate the inclusion or institution of new decorations and medals, first with the integration into the South African National Defence Force in 1994 and again with the institution of a new set of awards in 2003, but it remained unchanged on both occasions. Honoris Crux (1952) (HC) Honoris Crux Silver (HCS) Van Riebeeck Decoration (DVR)

Official SANDF order of precedence

• Preceded by the Honoris Crux (1952) (HC) of the Republic of South Africa.
• Succeeded by the Van Riebeeck Decoration (DVR) of the Republic of South Africa.

Official national order of precedence

• Preceded by the Honoris Crux (1952) (HC) of the Republic of South Africa.
• Succeeded by the Van Riebeeck Decoration (DVR) of the Republic of South Africa.

Description

Obverse

The Honoris Crux Silver is a silver Maltese cross which fits in a circle 45 millimetres in diameter, with two swords in saltire surmounted by a circular protea wreath, the arms of the cross in green enamel, with a roundel in the centre, tierced horizontally in the orange, white and blue bands of the national flag, framed in a double silver circle containing 24 stones. It is identical to the Honoris Crux of 1975 in all respects, except the colour of the enamel on the arms of the cross.

Reverse

The reverse has the pre-1994 South African Coat of Arms, with the decoration number impressed above and the silver hallmark below.

Bar

The bar is of silver, with a miniature replica of the Maltese cross embossed in the centre.

Ribbon

The ribbon is 32 millimetres wide and orange, with two 1 millimetre wide white bands in the centre, spaced 4 millimetres apart.

Discontinuation

Conferment of the decoration was discontinued in respect of services performed on or after 27 April 2003, when the Honoris Crux Silver was replaced by the new Nkwe ya Selefera (NS).

Recipients

In respect of those recipients about whom it is available, the actions they were cited for follow below the table.

Name	Rank	HCS no.	Date of action	Unit	Service Arm
Swanepoel, Pieter Arnoldus	Cpl	005	Template:Dts	2 SAI BN	SA Army
Van Niekerk, Hermanus	2 Lt	001	Template:Dts	14 Fd Rgt	SA Army
Wannenburg, Frederick Gerhardus  †	2 Lt	003	Template:Dts	1 Recce Rgt	SA Army
Piccione, Kevin Bruce	Tpr	006	Template:Dts	1 SSB	SA Army
Rawlins, Vincent R.	Cpl	004	Template:Dts	3 SAI BN	SA Army
Ward, William James Harold	S Sgt	002	Template:Dts	2 Recce Rgt	SA Army
Childs, Perry James	Lt	007	Template:Dts	17 Sqn	SAAF
Meerholz, Cornelius Alwyn Johannes	Capt	009	Template:Dts	1 Recce Rgt	SA Army
Hogan, Leo Anthony	Rfn	008	Template:Dts	3 Para Bn	SA Army
Costa, Feliciano Template:Efn	Rfn	010	Template:Dts	32 Bn	SA Army
Breytenbach, Cornelius Noël	Cmdt	011	Template:Dts	19 Sqn	SAAF
Stannard, Richard John Template:Efn	Lt	012	Template:Dts	1 Recce Rgt	SA Army
Lewer, Richard Campbell McNeillie Template:Efn	Maj	019	Template:Dts	8 Sqn	SAAF
Botes, Christo Wilhelm Template:Efn	Sgt	015	Template:Dts	AFB Ondangwa	SAAF
Barnes, Leslie Edward Template:Efn	Sgt	015	Template:Dts	MRU	SAAF
Bantjes, Alexander Petrus	Cpl	016	Template:Dts	MRU	SAAF
Hashomwenda, Dawie	Rfn	017	Template:Dts	101 Bn	SA Army
Van Zyl, Hendrik Gideon	Lt	018	Template:Dts	Spec Serv HQ	SAMS
Diedericks, André HC	Maj	019	Template:Dts	Spec Forces HQ	SA Army
Steyn, Jacobus Frederik	Maj	025	Template:Dts	NC Command	SA Army
Roux, Anton Louis	L Cpl	021	Template:Dts	10 Med Gp	SAMS
Venter, Johannes Antonie	L Cpl	102	Template:Dts	44 Bde Mil Int	SA Army
De Gouveia, J.H. (Johnny)	Sgt	023	Template:Dts	1 Recce Rgt	SA Army
Badenhorst, Johannes Jacobus	Spr	024	Template:Dts	13 Fd Eng Regt	SA Army
Slade, Alan Mark	Capt	104	Template:Dts	22 Sqn	SAAF
Frederikson, Theodore Kurt	Sgt	105	Template:Dts	31 Sqn	SAAF
Scoular, Gary Ian Template:Efn	LS	116	Template:Dts	Template:SAS	SAN
Greeff, J.deV. (Jack)Template:Efn	S Sgt	032	Template:Dts	1 RR	SA Army

Note 1:  † denotes a posthumous award.