 This system continued after the colonies became the Union of South Africa in 1910, and after World War I the Union government extended it to create entirely new medals, for Anglo-Boer War veterans (in 1920), the prisons department (in 1922), the police (in 1923), and the railways police (in 1934).Between 1937 and 1952, King George VI, as the Union's head of state, instituted several civil and military decorations and medals for the Union, including the King's Medal for Bravery.During World War II, British military decorations were again awarded to the South African forces.