THE VICTORIA CROSS MEDAL
The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces. It may be awarded posthumously. It was previously awarded to Commonwealth countries, most of which have established their own honours systems and no longer recommend British honours. It may be awarded to a person of any military rank in any service and to civilians under military command although no civilian has received the award since 1879.
Since the first awards were presented by Queen Victoria in 1857, two-thirds of all awards have been personally presented by the British monarch. These investitures are usually held at Buckingham Palace.
The VC was introduced on 29 January 1856 by Queen Victoria to honour acts of valour during the Crimean War. Since then, the medal has been awarded 1,358 times to 1,355 individual recipients. Only 15 medals, of which 11 were to members of the British Army and four were to members of the Australian Army, have been awarded since the Second World War. The traditional explanation of the source of the metal from which the medals are struck is that it derives from Russian cannons captured at the Siege of Sevastopol. However, research has indicated another origin for the material. Historian John Glanfield has established that the metal for most of the medals made since December 1914 came from two Chinese cannons, and that there is no evidence of Russian origin.
Owing to its rarity, the VC is highly prized and the medal has fetched over £400,000 at auctions. A number of public and private collections are devoted to the Victoria Cross. The private collection of Lord Ashcroft, amassed since 1986, contains over one-tenth of all VCs awarded. Following a 2008 donation to the Imperial War Museum, the Ashcroft collection went on public display alongside the museum's Victoria and George Cross collection in November 2010.
Beginning with the Centennial of Confederation in 1967, Canada, followed in 1975 by Australia and New Zealand, developed their own national honours systems, separate from and independent of the British or Imperial honours system. As each country's system evolved, operational gallantry awards were developed with the premier award of each system—the Victoria Cross for Australia, the Canadian Victoria Cross and the Victoria Cross for New Zealand—being created and named in honour of the Victoria Cross. These are unique awards of each honours system, recommended, assessed, gazetted, and presented by each country.
Three people were awarded the Victoria Cross twice.
These were the two British doctors Noel Chavasse and Arthur Martin-Leake who were awarded their second cross posthumously for rescuing wounded from enemy fire.
New Zealander Charles Upham received his two crosses for combat action and has survived both times. Another physician, William George Nicholas Manley, is the only man to be awarded both the Victoria Cross and the Iron Cross. He was awarded the Victoria Cross during the Maori War in New Zealand and the Iron Cross during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71.
Air commodore Freddie West was the surviving World War I veteran to be awarded the Victoria Cross. He died at the age of 92 in 1988.
Trooper Christopher Finney could have qualified for the Victoria Cross during an action in Iraq in 2003 where he rescued several colleagues from their tanks under fire. For the Victoria Cross, however, a heroic deed must be performed "in the face of the enemy", and Finney and his colleagues were shot at by Americans. Finney did get the highest alternative, the George Cross.
1945-2000
In the second half of the 20th century, the Victoria Cross was awarded thirteen more times, nine to British soldiers and four to Australian soldiers.
- 4 in the Korean War
- 1 during the confrontation between Indonesia and Malaysia in 1965
- 4 to Australians during the Vietnam War
- 2 during the Falklands War in 1982
- 1 in the Iraq War in 2004
- 3 in Afghanistan in 2006 and 2012
21st Century
The last three crosses have been awarded for the fight in Afghanistan and Iraq:
On March 18, 2005, Private Johnson Beharry received it for repeatedly rescuing a number of colleagues under enemy fire during the Iraq War, the second time he was seriously wounded to the head. The two times before were medals awarded posthumously during the Falklands War; the last time a recipient received the cross alive was in 1965.
On December 14, 2006, it was revealed that Corporal Bryan Budd of the Parachute Regiment was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan in July and August 2006.
On July 2, 2007, it was announced that Corporal Bill Apiata of the New Zealand Special Air Service (NZ SAS) was awarded the Victoria Cross for the rescue of an injured colleague under fire in Afghanistan in 2004.
On 12 August 2020, the Queen gave royal assent for Edward "Teddy" Sheean to be awarded the Victoria Cross for Australia. Sheean's case was reviewed three times, the first two reviews came up with conflicting advice. In June 2020, Prime Minister of Australia Scott Morrison ordered an expert panel to review the decision. On 10 August 2020, Morrison accepted the findings of the panel and recommended the Queen posthumously award Sheean the Victoria Cross for Australia.
(info: Wikipedia)
