The
Victoria Cross is the highest and most prestigious award
for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded
to British and Commonwealth forces.
It was founded by Royal Warrant on 29 January 1856,
and was originally intended to be awarded to members
of the Royal Navy and British Army who, serving in the
presence of the enemy, should have performed some signal
act of valour or devotion to their country.
As
Queen Victoria pointed out, it was not an Order, such
as the Garter of the Bath. It offered no knighthood,
bore no religious significance and contained no ranks
within itself. It was intended solely as a decoration
"to be highly prized and eagerly sought after by
the officers and men of Our naval and military services".
Pensions
were granted to all holders of the Victoria Cross below
commissioned rank, and an expulsion clause allowed for
a recipient's name to be erased from the official register
in certain wholly discreditable circumstances, and his
pension cancelled. King George V felt so strongly that
the decoration should never be forfeited. In a letter
to his Private Secretary, Lord Stamfordham, on 26 July
1920, his views are forcibly expressed: "The King
feels so strongly that, no matter the crime committed
by anyone on whom the VC has been conferred, the decoration
should not be forfeited. Even where a VC to be sentenced
to be hanged for murder, he should be allowed to wear
his VC on the gallows".
Since
the original 1856 warrant, other have been issued modifying
or limiting the VC's provisions. In 1858 Queen Victoria
decreed that the VC could be won by those who "may
perform acts of conspicuous courage and bravery ...
in circumstances of extreme danger, such as the occurrence
of a fire on board ship, or of the foundering of a vessel
at sea, or under any other circumstances in which ...
life or public property may be saved". This warrant
was only used twice.
In
1881, a new VC warrant was signed which stated "Our
Will and Pleasure is that the qualification (for the
award of the Victoria Cross) shall be "Conspicuous
bravery or devotion to the country in the presence of
the enemy". It was this last stipulation that necessitated
the introduction of the George Cross in 1940.
In
1902 King Edward VII approved the extremely important
principle of awarding the VC posthumously. In 1911 King
George V admitted native officers and men of the Indian
Army to eligibility, and in 1920, it was extended to
include the Royal Air Force, and "matrons, sisters,
nurses ... serving regularly or temporarily under the
orders, direction or supervision" of the military
authorities. It was against emphasised that the VC "...
shall only be awarded for most conspicuous bravery or
some daring pre-eminent act of valour or self-sacrifice
or extreme devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy."
Queen
Victoria chose the design for the new decoration. It
is in the form of a Maltese Cross ensigned with the
Royal Crest and a scroll inscribed simply "For
Valour". It is connected by a V-shaped link to
a bar engraved on the face with the recipient's name.
The date of the deed for which the honour is bestowed
is engraved on the back of the Cross itself. It is worn
on the left breast, before all other medals and awards,
suspended from a 1½-inch wide red ribbon. Originally
the VC ribbon was blue for the Navy, and dark red for
the Army. Since 1918, all VC awards use the crimson
shade. The medal itself was, and still is, made of bronze
melted down from the Russian cannons captured at Sevastopol
in the Crimean War. |
