An 8.5 inch (21.59 cm) by 11.25 inch (28.57 cm) black and white photo of Lieutenant Gilmour S. Boa lifted on a victory chair as the Winner of the King’s Prize in 1951 at the Bisley Competition.

On 21 July 1951 Lt. Boa won the most coveted award of military marksman of the British and Commonwealth armies, the King’s Prize. That autumn Lt. Boa also won, for his second time,  the King’s Medal at the D.R.A. (Dominion Rifle Association) meet in Ottawa.

The 48th Highlanders competed as part of the Canadian Bisley Team from 1895 to 1914 before the Bisley competitions were suspended during WWI. Sgt. William Hawkins had won the King’s Prize at Bisley in 1913. Highlanders resumed competing when the competitions began again after the war.

The Bisley Team

In the world of military shooting competitions, there was no greater honour in the British Commonwealth than to represent your Canada at the Bisley competition in Britain. Canadians could only qualify for the Bisley team after having shot and won at the Dominion Rifle Association Meet. Of all the trophies and awards that could be won, the greatest was the King’s Prize won by a 48th Highlander in 1913 and again in 1951.