Victoria Cross

Selection The obverse of William Johnstone's VC showing the dark blue ribbon for pre-1918 awards to naval personnel The Victoria Cross is awarded for ... most conspicuous bravery, or some daring or pre-eminent act of valour or self-sacrifice, or extreme devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy. A recommendation for the VC is normally issued by an officer at regimental level, or equivalent, and has to be supported by three witnesses, although this has been waived on occasion. The recommendation is then passed up the military hierarchy until it reaches the Secretary of State for Defence. The recommendation is then laid before the monarch who approves the award with his or her signature. Victoria Cross awards are always promulgated in The London Gazette with the single exception of the award to the American Unknown Soldier in 1921. The Victoria Cross warrant makes no specific provision as to who should actually present the medals to the recipients. Queen Victoria indicated that she would like to present the medals in person and she presented 185 medals out of the 472 gazetted during her reign. Including the first 62 medals presented at a parade in Hyde Park on 26 June 1857 by Queen Victoria, nearly 900 awards have been personally presented to the recipient by the reigning British monarch. Nearly 300 awards have been presented by a member of the royal family or by a civil or military dignitary. About 150 awards were either forwarded to the recipient or next of kin by registered post or no details of the presentations are known.

The original royal warrant did not contain a specific clause regarding posthumous awards, although official policy was not to award the VC posthumously. Between the First war of Indian Independence in 1857 and the beginning of the Second Boer War, the names of six officers and men were published in the London Gazette with a memorandum stating they would have been awarded the Victoria Cross had they survived. A further three notices were published in the London Gazette in September 1900 and April 1901 for gallantry in the Second Boer War. In an exception to policy for the Second Boer War, six posthumous Victoria Crosses, three to those mentioned in the notices in 1900 and 1901 and a further three, were granted on 8 August 1902, the first official posthumous awards.[note 1] Five years later in 1907, the posthumous policy was reversed for earlier wars, and medals were sent to the next of kin of the six officers and men whose names were mentioned in notices in the Gazette dating back to the Indian Mutiny. The Victoria Cross warrant was not amended to explicitly allow posthumous awards until 1920, but one quarter of all awards for World War I were posthumous.

The process and motivations of selecting the medal's recipients has sometimes been interpreted as inconsistent or overly political. The most common observation has been that the Victoria Cross may be given more often for engagements that senior military personnel would like to publicly promote.

The 1920 royal warrant made provision for awards to women serving in the Armed Forces. No woman has been awarded a VC.[note 2]

Criteria In the case of a gallant and daring act being performed by a squadron, ship's company or a detached body of men (such as marines) in which all men are deemed equally brave and deserving of the Victoria Cross, a ballot is drawn. The officers select one officer, the NCOs select one individual, and the private soldiers or seamen select two individuals.

In all, 46 awards have been awarded by ballot with 29 of the awards during the Indian Mutiny. Four further awards were granted to Q Battery, Royal Horse Artillery at Korn Spruit on 31 March 1900 during the Second Boer War. The final ballot awards for the army were the six awards to the Lancashire Fusiliers at W Beach during the landing at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915, although three of the awards were not gazetted until 1917. The final seven ballot awards were the only naval ballot awards with three awards to two Q-ships in 1917 and four awards for the Zeebrugge Raid in 1918. The provision for awards by ballot is still included in the Victoria Cross warrant, but there have been no further such awards since 1918.

Between 1858 and 1881, the Victoria Cross could be awarded for actions taken "under circumstances of extreme danger" not in the face of the enemy. Six such awards were made during this period—five of them for a single incident during an Expedition to the Andaman Islands in 1867. In 1881, the criteria were changed again and the VC was only awarded for acts of valour "in the face of the enemy". Due to this, it has been suggested by many historians including Lord Ashcroft that the changing nature of warfare will result in fewer VCs being awarded.

Colonial awards The Victoria Cross was extended to colonial troops in 1867. The extension was made following a recommendation for gallantry regarding colonial soldier Major Charles Heaphy for action in the New Zealand Wars in 1864. He was operating under British command and the VC was gazetted in 1867. Later that year, the Government of New Zealand assumed full responsibility for operations, but no further recommendations for the Victoria Cross were raised for local troops who distinguished themselves in action. Following gallant actions by three New Zealand soldiers in November 1868 and January 1869 during the New Zealand Wars, an Order in Council on 10 March 1869 created a "Distinctive Decoration" for members of the local forces without seeking permission from the Secretary of State for the Colonies. Although the governor was chided for exceeding his authority, the Order in Council was ratified by the Queen. The title "Distinctive Decoration" was later replaced by the title New Zealand Cross. In addition, in 1870 Victoria sent six ceremonial Highland broadswords to New Zealand, to be presented as "Swords of Honour" to Māori rangatira who had served with distinction during the New Zealand Wars. The swords were presented in a ceremony in Wellington in June 1870 to Mōkena Kōhere, Te Keepa Te Rangihiwinui (Major Kemp), Te Pokiha Taranui, Henare Tomoana, Ropata Wahawaha, and Ihaka Whaanga.

The question of whether awards could be made to colonial troops not serving with British troops was raised in South Africa in 1881. Surgeon John McCrea, an officer of the South African forces was recommended for gallantry during hostilities which had not been approved by the British Government. He was awarded the Victoria Cross and the principle was established that gallant conduct could be rewarded independently of any political consideration of military operations. More recently, four Australian soldiers were awarded the Victoria Cross in the Vietnam War although Britain was not involved in the conflict.

Indian troops were not originally eligible for the Victoria Cross since they had been eligible for the Indian Order of Merit since 1837, which was the oldest British gallantry award for general issue. When the Victoria Cross was created, Indian troops were still controlled by the East India Company and did not come under Crown control until 1860. European officers and men serving with the East India Company were not eligible for the Indian Order of Merit and the Victoria Cross was extended to cover them in October 1857. It was only at the end of the 19th century that calls for Indian troops to be awarded the Victoria Cross intensified. Indian troops became eligible for the award in 1911. The first awards to Indian troops appeared in the London Gazette on 7 December 1914 to Darwan Singh Negi and Khudadad Khan. Negi was presented with the Victoria Cross by George V during a visit to troops in France. The presentation occurred on 5 December 1914 and he is one of a very few soldiers presented with his award before it appeared in the London Gazette.

Separate Commonwealth awards See also: Victoria Cross for Australia, Victoria Cross (Canada), and Victoria Cross for New Zealand Victoria Cross as it appears on Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstones. Since the Second World War, most but not all Commonwealth countries have created their own honours systems and no longer participate in the British honours system. This began soon after the Partition of India in 1947, when the new countries of India and Pakistan introduced their own systems of awards. The VC was replaced by the Param Vir Chakra (PVC) and Nishan-e-Haider (NH) respectively. Most if not all new honours systems continued to permit recipients of British honours to wear their awards according to the rules of each nation's order of wear. Sri Lanka, whose defence personnel were eligible to receive the Victoria Cross until 1972, introduced its own equivalent, the Parama Weera Vibhushanaya medal. Three Commonwealth realms—Australia, Canada and New Zealand—have each introduced their own decorations for gallantry and bravery, replacing British decorations such as the Victoria Cross with their own. The only Commonwealth countries that can now recommend the VC are the small nations that still participate in the British honours system, none of whose forces have ever been awarded the VC.

When the Union of South Africa instituted its own range of military decorations and medals with effect from 6 April 1952, these new awards took precedence before all earlier British decorations and medals awarded to South Africans, with the exception of the Victoria Cross, which still took precedence before all other awards. The other older British awards continued to be worn in the order prescribed by the British Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood.

Australia was the first Commonwealth realm to create its own VC, on 15 January 1991. Canada followed suit when in 1993, followed by New Zealand in 1999. While each of these new awards are technically separate from the British award, the Australian and New Zealand decoration is identical to the British design and is cast from the same gunmetal. The Canadian Victoria Cross is almost identical, except that the legend has been changed from "for valour" to the Latin "pro valore". This language was chosen so as to favour neither English nor French, the two official languages of Canada. It also includes metal from the same cannon, along with copper and other metals from all regions of Canada.

There have been six recipients of the Victoria Cross for Australia, four for action in Afghanistan and one awarded for action in the Second World War following a review. The first was to Trooper Mark Donaldson (Special Air Service Regiment) on 16 January 2009 for actions during Operation Slipper, the Australian contribution to the War in Afghanistan; Ben Roberts-Smith, Daniel Keighran and Cameron Baird were also awarded the Victoria Cross for Australia for actions in Afghanistan. Teddy Sheean was awarded the VC after the Australian Government convened an expert panel to review his case. The Victoria Cross for New Zealand has been awarded once: Corporal Willie Apiata (New Zealand Special Air Service) on 2 July 2007, for his actions in the War in Afghanistan in 2004. The Canadian Victoria Cross has been cast once, to be awarded to the Unknown Soldier at the rededication of the Vimy Memorial on 7 April 2007 (this date being chosen as it was the 90th anniversary of the battle of Vimy Ridge), but pressure from veterans' organisations caused the plan to be dropped.

^ Cite error: The named reference modopshonours was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

^ a b Crook, MJ, Chapter 18, p. 204.

^ "Posthumous VCs". National Army Museum. Archived from the original on 16 July 2007. Retrieved 16 June 2007.

^ Pillinger, Dennis; Staunton, A, p. 73.

^ "No. 27462". The London Gazette. 8 August 1902. p. 5085.

^ "No. 27986". The London Gazette. 15 January 1907. p. 325.

^ Crook, MJ, Chapter 8 pp. 68–90.

^ "No. 31946". The London Gazette. 18 June 1920. p. 6702.

^ Mead, Gary (7 May 2015). Victoria's Cross: The Untold Story of Britain's Highest Award for Bravery. Atlantic Books. ISBN 9781782396383.

^ Edwardes, Charlotte (18 October 2003). "'Wrong men' given VCs at Rorke's Drift". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022. Retrieved 19 January 2019.

^ de Bruxelles, Simon. "Cholera nurse who won VC is honoured".

^ "The Victoria Cross". Imperial War Museum. Archived from the original on 15 June 2011. Retrieved 22 April 2015.

^ Original Warrant, Clause 13: "Thirteenthly. It is ordained that in the event of a gallant and daring act having been performed by a squadron, ship's company, or detached body of seamen and marines not under fifty in number, or by a brigade, regiment, troop or company in which the admiral, general, or other officer commanding such forces may deem that all are equally brave and distinguished, and that no special selection can be made by them, then is such case the admiral, general, or other officer commanding, may direct that for any such body of seamen or marines, or for every troop or company of soldiers, one officer shall be selected by the officers engaged for the Decoration, and in like manner one petty officer or non-commissioned officer shall be selected by the petty officers and non-commissioned officers engaged, and two seamen or private soldiers or marines shall be selected by the seamen, or private soldiers, or marines engaged, respectively for the Decoration, and the names of those selected shall be transmitted by the senior officers in command of the Naval force, brigade, regiment, troop, or company, to the admiral or general officer commanding, who shall in due manner confer the Decoration as if the acts were done under his own eye."

^ Warrant Amendment dated 10 August 1858: "subject to the rules and ordinances already made, on Officers and Men of Her Majesty's Naval and Military Services, who may perform acts of conspicuous courage and bravery under circumstances of extreme danger, such as the occurrence of a fire on board ship, or the foundering of a vessel at sea, or under any of the other circumstance in which, through the courage and devotion displayed, life or public property may be saved."

^ a b "VC background". British War Graves Memorial. Archived from the original on 6 October 2007. Retrieved 16 June 2007.

^ "Victoria Cross TV programme notes". fiveTV. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 17 June 2007.

^ "Charles heaphy biography". New Zealand Encyclopedia. 1966. Archived from the original on 15 August 2007. Retrieved 17 June 2007.

^ a b Abbott PE, Tamplin JMA, Chapter 34, pp. 230–236.

^ "New Zealand Cross". New Zealand Encyclopedia. 1966. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 17 June 2007.

^ Osborne, John (2015). "Highland Broadsword in New Zealand" (PDF). New Zealand Antique and Historical Arms Association. Retrieved 23 February 2021.

^ Crook, MJ, Chapter 19, pp. 242–251.

^ Crook, MJ, Chapter 11. pp. 117–125.

^ a b "New Zealand Honours". Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. Archived from the original on 7 December 2006. Retrieved 30 January 2007.

^ "No. 56878". The London Gazette (Supplement). 17 March 2003. pp. 3351–3355. The Gazette containing the most up-to-date Order of Precedence.

^ Cite error: The named reference London Gazette was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

^ Government Notice no. 1982 of 1 October 1954—Order of Precedence of Orders, Decorations and Medals, published in the Government Gazette of 1 October 1954.

^ Republic of South Africa Government Gazette Vol. 477, no. 27376, Pretoria, 11 March 2005, OCLC 72827981.

^ "The Victoria Cross for Australia". The Government of Australia. Archived from the original on 7 October 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2007.

^ "Pro Valore: Canada's Victoria Cross" (PDF). National Defence; Government of Canada. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 30 August 2011.

^ CTV.ca, News staff (3 March 2007). "Top military honour now cast in Canada". CTV news. Archived from the original on 5 March 2007. Retrieved 24 June 2007.

^ "Australian SAS soldier Mark Donaldson awarded Victoria Cross". The Australian. 16 January 2009. Retrieved 7 August 2009.

^ "SAS digger awarded VC for taking on Taliban". The Sydney Morning Herald. 23 January 2011. Archived from the original on 7 January 2014. Retrieved 23 January 2011.

^ "Corporal Daniel Keighran awarded the Victoria Cross". 1 November 2012. Retrieved 1 November 2012.

^ "Ordinary Seaman Edward 'Teddy' Sheean". Prime Minister of Australia. 12 August 2020. Retrieved 13 August 2020.

^ Teotonio, Isabel (7 March 2007). "Vets irate at Victoria Cross proposal". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 17 October 2007. Retrieved 24 June 2007.

} template (see the help page).

The obverse of William Johnstone's VC showing the dark blue ribbon for pre-1918 awards to naval personnel The Victoria Cross is awarded for ... most conspicuous bravery, or some daring or pre-eminent act of valour or self-sacrifice, or extreme devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy. A recommendation for the VC is normally issued by an officer at regimental level, or equivalent, and has to be supported by three witnesses, although this has been waived on occasion. The recommendation is then passed up the military hierarchy until it reaches the Secretary of State for Defence. The recommendation is then laid before the monarch who approves the award with his or her signature. Victoria Cross awards are always promulgated in The London Gazette with the single exception of the award to the American Unknown Soldier in 1921. The Victoria Cross warrant makes no specific provision as to who should actually present the medals to the recipients. Queen Victoria indicated that she would like to present the medals in person and she presented 185 medals out of the 472 gazetted during her reign. Including the first 62 medals presented at a parade in Hyde Park on 26 June 1857 by Queen Victoria, nearly 900 awards have been personally presented to the recipient by the reigning British monarch. Nearly 300 awards have been presented by a member of the royal family or by a civil or military dignitary. About 150 awards were either forwarded to the recipient or next of kin by registered post or no details of the presentations are known.

The original royal warrant did not contain a specific clause regarding posthumous awards, although official policy was not to award the VC posthumously. Between the First war of Indian Independence in 1857 and the beginning of the Second Boer War, the names of six officers and men were published in the London Gazette with a memorandum stating they would have been awarded the Victoria Cross had they survived. A further three notices were published in the London Gazette in September 1900 and April 1901 for gallantry in the Second Boer War. In an exception to policy for the Second Boer War, six posthumous Victoria Crosses, three to those mentioned in the notices in 1900 and 1901 and a further three, were granted on 8 August 1902, the first official posthumous awards.[note 1] Five years later in 1907, the posthumous policy was reversed for earlier wars, and medals were sent to the next of kin of the six officers and men whose names were mentioned in notices in the Gazette dating back to the Indian Mutiny. The Victoria Cross warrant was not amended to explicitly allow posthumous awards until 1920, but one quarter of all awards for World War I were posthumous.

The process and motivations of selecting the medal's recipients has sometimes been interpreted as inconsistent or overly political. The most common observation has been that the Victoria Cross may be given more often for engagements that senior military personnel would like to publicly promote.

The 1920 royal warrant made provision for awards to women serving in the Armed Forces. No woman has been awarded a VC.[note 2]

^ Cite error: The named reference modopshonours was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

^ Crook, MJ, Chapter 18, p. 204.

^ "Posthumous VCs". National Army Museum. Archived from the original on 16 July 2007. Retrieved 16 June 2007.

^ Pillinger, Dennis; Staunton, A, p. 73.

^ "No. 27462". The London Gazette. 8 August 1902. p. 5085.

^ "No. 27986". The London Gazette. 15 January 1907. p. 325.

^ Crook, MJ, Chapter 8 pp. 68–90.

^ "No. 31946". The London Gazette. 18 June 1920. p. 6702.

^ Mead, Gary (7 May 2015). Victoria's Cross: The Untold Story of Britain's Highest Award for Bravery. Atlantic Books. ISBN 9781782396383.

^ Edwardes, Charlotte (18 October 2003). "'Wrong men' given VCs at Rorke's Drift". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022. Retrieved 19 January 2019.

^ de Bruxelles, Simon. "Cholera nurse who won VC is honoured".

^ "The Victoria Cross". Imperial War Museum. Archived from the original on 15 June 2011. Retrieved 22 April 2015.

} template (see the help page).

In the case of a gallant and daring act being performed by a squadron, ship's company or a detached body of men (such as marines) in which all men are deemed equally brave and deserving of the Victoria Cross, a ballot is drawn. The officers select one officer, the NCOs select one individual, and the private soldiers or seamen select two individuals.

In all, 46 awards have been awarded by ballot with 29 of the awards during the Indian Mutiny. Four further awards were granted to Q Battery, Royal Horse Artillery at Korn Spruit on 31 March 1900 during the Second Boer War. The final ballot awards for the army were the six awards to the Lancashire Fusiliers at W Beach during the landing at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915, although three of the awards were not gazetted until 1917. The final seven ballot awards were the only naval ballot awards with three awards to two Q-ships in 1917 and four awards for the Zeebrugge Raid in 1918. The provision for awards by ballot is still included in the Victoria Cross warrant, but there have been no further such awards since 1918.

Between 1858 and 1881, the Victoria Cross could be awarded for actions taken "under circumstances of extreme danger" not in the face of the enemy. Six such awards were made during this period—five of them for a single incident during an Expedition to the Andaman Islands in 1867. In 1881, the criteria were changed again and the VC was only awarded for acts of valour "in the face of the enemy". Due to this, it has been suggested by many historians including Lord Ashcroft that the changing nature of warfare will result in fewer VCs being awarded.

^ Original Warrant, Clause 13: "Thirteenthly. It is ordained that in the event of a gallant and daring act having been performed by a squadron, ship's company, or detached body of seamen and marines not under fifty in number, or by a brigade, regiment, troop or company in which the admiral, general, or other officer commanding such forces may deem that all are equally brave and distinguished, and that no special selection can be made by them, then is such case the admiral, general, or other officer commanding, may direct that for any such body of seamen or marines, or for every troop or company of soldiers, one officer shall be selected by the officers engaged for the Decoration, and in like manner one petty officer or non-commissioned officer shall be selected by the petty officers and non-commissioned officers engaged, and two seamen or private soldiers or marines shall be selected by the seamen, or private soldiers, or marines engaged, respectively for the Decoration, and the names of those selected shall be transmitted by the senior officers in command of the Naval force, brigade, regiment, troop, or company, to the admiral or general officer commanding, who shall in due manner confer the Decoration as if the acts were done under his own eye."

^ Cite error: The named reference Crook204 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

^ Warrant Amendment dated 10 August 1858: "subject to the rules and ordinances already made, on Officers and Men of Her Majesty's Naval and Military Services, who may perform acts of conspicuous courage and bravery under circumstances of extreme danger, such as the occurrence of a fire on board ship, or the foundering of a vessel at sea, or under any of the other circumstance in which, through the courage and devotion displayed, life or public property may be saved."

^ a b "VC background". British War Graves Memorial. Archived from the original on 6 October 2007. Retrieved 16 June 2007.

^ "Victoria Cross TV programme notes". fiveTV. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 17 June 2007.

Main article: Lists of Victoria Cross recipients "Lucknow 16 November 1857. The 93rd Highlanders Entering The Breach At The Storming of the Secundrabagh" depicts 93rd Highlanders storming Sikandar Bagh, 17 VCs were awarded for the action. "James Hill Johnes, VC, Attacking the Enemy" by Frank Nowlan depicts James Hills-Johnes earning his Victoria Cross at the siege of Delhi in July 1857 A total of 1,358 Victoria Crosses have been awarded since 1856 to 1,355 men. The greatest number of Victoria Crosses awarded for a single day was 24 for deeds performed during the Indian Mutiny on 16 November 1857, 23 for deeds at Lucknow and one by Francis David Millet Brown for action at Narnoul. The greatest number won by a single unit during a single action is seven, to the 2nd/24th Foot, for the defence of Rorke's Drift, 22–23 January 1879, during the Zulu War. The greatest number won in a single conflict is 628, during the First World War. Ishar Singh became the first Indian Sikh to receive the award. Eight of the 12 surviving holders of the Victoria Cross attended the 150th Anniversary service of remembrance at Westminster Abbey on 26 June 2006.

Three people have been awarded the VC and Bar, the bar representing a second award of the VC. They are Noel Godfrey Chavasse and Arthur Martin-Leake, both doctors in the Royal Army Medical Corps, for rescuing wounded under fire; and New Zealander Captain Charles Upham, an infantryman, for combat actions. Upham remains the only combatant soldier to have received a VC and Bar. Surgeon General William George Nicholas Manley, an Irishman, is the sole recipient of both the Victoria Cross and the Iron Cross. The VC was awarded for his actions during the Waikato-Hauhau Maori War, New Zealand on 29 April 1864, while the Iron Cross was awarded for tending the wounded during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71. Royal New Zealand Air Force Flying Officer Lloyd Allan Trigg is the only serviceman ever awarded a VC on evidence solely provided by the enemy, for an action in which there were no surviving Allied witnesses. The recommendation was made by the captain of the German U-boat U-468 sunk by Trigg's aircraft. Lieutenant Commander Gerard Roope was also awarded a VC on recommendation of the enemy, the captain of the Admiral Hipper, but there were also numerous surviving Allied witnesses to corroborate his actions.

Since the end of the Second World War, the original VC has been awarded 15 times: four in the Korean War, one in the Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation in 1965, four to Australians in the Vietnam War, two during the Falklands War in 1982, one in the Iraq War in 2004, and three in the War in Afghanistan for actions in 2006, 2012 and 2013.

In 1921, the British Unknown Warrior was awarded the US Medal of Honor and reciprocally the Victoria Cross was presented to the American Unknown Soldier of the First World War. This is the only ungazetted VC award following the normal British practice for both gallantry and meritorious awards to foreign recipients not being gazetted. It is included in the total of 1,358 awards.

In 1856, Queen Victoria laid an unnamed Victoria Cross beneath the foundation stone of Netley Military hospital. When the hospital was demolished in 1966 the VC, known as "The Netley VC", was retrieved and is now on display in the Army Medical Services Museum, Mytchett, near Aldershot. This VC is not counted in official statistics.

^ "The Victoria Cross factsheet". Ministry of Defence. Archived from the original on 11 July 2007. Retrieved 30 June 2007. (The figure used in this article does not include the award to the American Unknown Soldier.)

^ Duckers, Peter (2005). The Victoria Cross. Shire Publications Ltd. p. 52. ISBN 978-0-7478-0635-6.

^ "The History of The Royal Welsh: Anglo-Zulu War 1879". The Regimental Museum of The Royal Welsh (Brecon). Archived from the original on 7 April 2015. Retrieved 22 April 2015. For the same action four other VCs were awarded to members of other units.

^ Arthur, Max; pp. 185–371.

^ Ashcroft, p. 99.

^ "Service of Remembrance Coverage". BBC. 26 June 2006. Archived from the original on 13 July 2006. Retrieved 30 June 2007.

^ Ashcroft, Michael, Introduction: A brief History of the VC (p. 14–18).

^ "Awards to Imperial Servicemen During the 2nd Maori War". New Zealand Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 7 July 2007. Retrieved 30 June 2007.

^ Ashcroft, Michael, pp. 296–298, Information on Flying Officer Lloyd Allan Trigg.

^ Singh Gill, Himmat. "Of blood red in olive green". India Sunday Tribune. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 30 June 2007.

^ a b Victoria Cross Register.

^ "Operational Honours: VC and GC for acts of exceptional valour". MOD press release. 24 December 2006. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 16 June 2007.

^ "Victoria Cross Award For L/Cpl James Ashworth". Sky News. 16 March 2013. Archived from the original on 18 March 2013. Retrieved 16 March 2013.

^ "No. 61154". The London Gazette (Supplement). 26 February 2015. p. 3466.

^ a b "Netley Hospital information". QARANC—Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps. Archived from the original on 3 June 2007. Retrieved 16 June 2007.

Prototype Victoria Cross submitted to Queen Victoria for her approval in February 1856, now in the National Army Museum In 1854, after 39 years of peace, Britain was in a major war against Russia. The Crimean War was one of the first wars with modern reporting, and the dispatches of William Howard Russell described many acts of bravery and valour by British servicemen that went unrewarded.

Before the Crimean War, there was no official standardised system for recognition of gallantry within the British armed forces. Officers were eligible for an award of one of the junior grades of the Order of the Bath and brevet promotions while a Mention in Despatches existed as an alternative award for acts of lesser gallantry. This structure was very limited; in practice, awards of the Order of the Bath were confined to officers of field rank and brevet promotions or Mentions in Despatches were largely confined to those who were under the immediate notice of the commanders in the field, generally members of the commander's own staff.

Other European countries had awards that did not discriminate against class or rank; France awarded the Légion d'honneur (Legion of Honour, established 1802) and the Netherlands gave the Order of William (established in 1815). There was a growing feeling among the public and in the Royal Court that a new award was needed to recognise incidents of gallantry that were unconnected with the length or merit of a man's service. Queen Victoria issued a warrant under the royal sign-manual on 29 January 1856 (gazetted 5 February 1856) that officially constituted the VC. The order was backdated to 1854 to recognise acts of valour during the Crimean War.

Queen Victoria had instructed the War Office to strike a new medal that would not recognise birth or class. The medal was meant to be a simple decoration that would be highly prized and eagerly sought after by those in the military services. To maintain its simplicity, Queen Victoria, under the guidance of Prince Albert, vetoed the suggestion that the award be called The Military Order of Victoria and instead suggested the name Victoria Cross. The original warrant stated that the Victoria Cross would only be awarded to officers and men who had served in the presence of the enemy and had performed some signal act of valour or devotion. The first ceremony was held on 26 June 1857 at which Queen Victoria invested 62 of the 111 Crimean recipients in a ceremony in Hyde Park, London.

Manufacture A single company of jewellers, Hancocks & Co, has been responsible for the production of every VC awarded since its inception.

It has long been widely believed that all the VCs were cast in bronze from the cascabels of two cannons that were captured from the Russians at the siege of Sevastopol. However, in 1990 Creagh and Ashton conducted a metallurgical examination of the VCs in the custody of the Australian War Memorial, and later the historian John Glanfield wrote that, through the use of X-ray studies of older Victoria Crosses, it was determined that the metal used for almost all VCs since December 1914 is taken from antique Chinese guns, replacing an earlier gun. Creagh noted the existence of Chinese inscriptions on the cannon, which are now barely legible due to corrosion. A likely explanation is that the cannon were taken as trophies during the First Opium War and held in the Woolwich repository.

It was also thought that some medals made during the First World War were composed of metal captured from different Chinese guns during the Boxer Rebellion. This is not so, however. The VCs examined by Creagh and Ashton both in Australia (58) and at the National Army Museum in New Zealand (14) spanned the entire time during which VCs have been issued and no compositional inconsistencies were found. It was also believed that another source of metal was used between 1942 and 1945 to create five Second World War VCs when the Sevastopol metal "went missing". Creagh accessed the Army records at MoD Donnington in 1991 and did not find any gaps in the custodial record. The composition found in the WW2 VCs, among them those for Edwards (Australia) and Upham (New Zealand), is similar to that for the early WW1 medals. This is likely to be due to the reuse of material from earlier pourings, casting sprues, defective medals, etc.

The remaining portion of the only remaining cascabel, weighing 358 oz (10 kg), is stored in a vault maintained by 15 Regiment Royal Logistic Corps at MoD Donnington and may only be removed under armed guard. It is estimated that approximately 80 to 85 more VCs could be cast from this source.

^ Early casting of a Victoria Cross, 1856. Conflict in Europe gallery, National Army Museum.

^ a b c Ashcroft (2006), preface.

^ Original Warrant Foreword: "And, whereas, the third class of Our Most Honourable Order of the Bath is limited, except in very rare cases, to the higher ranks of both services, and the granting of Medals, both in Our Navy and Army, is only awarded for long service or meritorious conduct, rather than for bravery in action or distinction before an enemy."

^ British Gallantry Awards, p. 283.

^ a b "No. 21846". The London Gazette. 5 February 1856. pp. 410–411. The Gazette publishing the original royal warrant.

^ Ashcroft, Michael, pp. 7–10.

^ "The Victoria Cross". Vietnam Veterans of Australia. Archived from the original on 29 April 2013. Retrieved 15 June 2007.

^ Original Warrant, Clause 5: "Fifthly. It is ordained that the Cross shall only be awarded to those officers and men who have served Us in the presence of the enemy, and shall have then performed some signal act of valour or devotion to their country."

^ a b c "The Victoria Cross". Hancocks. Hancocks of London. 17 March 2016. Archived from the original on 17 August 2018.

^ Cite error: The named reference beharry359 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

^ a b Cite error: The named reference Navalmuseum was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

^ a b c d e f Creagh, Dudley (1992). Charles Barrett (ed.). Advances in X-ray Analysis Vol. 35. Plenum. pp. 1127–1132. ISBN 978-0-306-44249-0.

^ a b Creagh, Dudley; Ashton, John (1999). J. Fernandez, A. Tartari (ed.). Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrometry. Editrice Compositori. pp. 299–305. ISBN 88-7794-195-2.

^ a b c Davies, Catriona (28 December 2005). "Author explodes myth of the gunmetal VC". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 4 June 2008. Retrieved 16 June 2007.

^ Glanfield (2005), pp. 24–35.

The front and back of Edward Holland's VC The decoration is a bronze cross pattée, 1+39⁄64″ (41 mm) high, 1+27⁄64″ (36 mm) wide, bearing the crown of Saint Edward surmounted by a lion, and the inscription "for valour". This was originally to have been "for the brave", until it was changed on the recommendation of Queen Victoria, as it implied that only men who were awarded the cross were brave. The decoration, suspension bar, and link weigh about 0.87 troy ounces (27 g).

The cross is suspended by a ring from a seriffed "V" to a bar ornamented with laurel leaves, through which the ribbon passes. The reverse of the suspension bar is engraved with the recipient's name, rank, number and unit. On the reverse of the medal is a circular panel on which the date of the act for which it was awarded is engraved in the centre.

The Original Warrant Clause 1 states that the Victoria Cross "shall consist of a Maltese cross of bronze". Nonetheless, it has always been a cross pattée; the discrepancy with the warrant has never been corrected.

The ribbon is crimson, 1+1⁄2″(38 mm) wide. The original (1856) specification for the award stated that the ribbon should be red for army recipients and dark blue for naval recipients, but the dark blue ribbon was abolished soon after the formation of the Royal Air Force on 1 April 1918. On 22 May 1920 George V signed a warrant that stated all recipients would now receive a red ribbon and the living recipients of the naval version were required to exchange their ribbons for the new colour. Although the army warrants state the colour as being red, it is defined by most commentators as being crimson or "wine-red".

Since 1917 a miniature of the Cross has been affixed to the centre of the ribbon bar when worn without the Cross. In the event of a second award bar, a second replica is worn alongside the first.

^ a b Original Warrant, Clause 1: "Firstly. It is ordained that the distinction shall be styled and designated 'The Victoria Cross', and shall consist of a Maltese cross of bronze, with our Royal crest in the centre, and underneath with an escroll bearing the inscription 'For Valour'."

^ "150 years of the Victoria Cross". Royal Naval Museum. Archived from the original on 15 February 2008. Retrieved 2 July 2008.

^ Ashcroft, Michael, p. 16.

^ a b Cite error: The named reference vvaa was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

^ a b Abbott PE, Tamplin JMA, Chapter 44, p. 291.

^ Original warrant, Clause Two: "Secondly. It is ordained that the Cross shall be suspended from the left breast by a blue riband for the Navy, and by a red riband for the Army."

^ "The Victoria Cross mentioned in newsletter" (PDF). Army Museum of Western Australia. 1 September 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 December 2008. Retrieved 21 June 2007.

^ "The Victoria Cross". Imperial War Museum Exhibits and Firearms Collections. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 30 September 2006.