The Victoria Cross is the highest decoration that can be awarded to British
and Commonwealth Forces. The VC was instituted by Royal Warrant in January 1856
but was made retrospective to the Autumn of 1854 to cover the period of the
Crimean War. Since then there have been several amending warrants.
It is not just a British award, but also a Commonwealth one; it was extended
to members of the Colonial Forces in New Zealand and other parts of the Empire
in 1867 and to the officers and men of the Indian Army in 1911. There is no
barrier of colour, creed, sex or rank [unlike many military decorations which
have different types for officers and other ranks]. The top units for awardees
are the Royal Artillery with 51, the Royal Engineers with 41, and then the Royal
Army Medical Corps and the Rifle Brigade with 27 each.
Fourteen men not born British or Commonwealth citizens have received the VC;
five Americans, one Belgian, three Danes, two Germans, one Swede, a Swiss and a
Russian. The largest number of VCs won in a single day was 24 at the second
relief of Lucknow on 16 Nov 1857 during the Indian Mutiny. The VC can be
bestowed by ballot, when the act of gallantry has been performed by a body of
men [46 have been awarded]. When the VC was first instituted a special pension
of 10 pounds per annum was made payable to all non-commissioned ranks. In July
1898 it was decided that this amount might be increased in times of need, at
discretion, to 50 pounds then later to 75 pounds. It was not until 1959 that the
pension was allowed irrespective of rank and increased to 100 pounds. In 1995 it
was increased to 1300 pounds and at that time there were 33 recipients still
alive.
Since 1916 miniature VCs have been worn instead of the full-sized medals with
evening dress or mess dress. Since 1945 the VC has been awarded only 11 times
[the last two won in the Falklands War in 1982]. It has been estimated that the
chance of surviving a Victoria Cross act is 1 in 10. There is now a requirement
for at least three witnesses, who must make sworn written statements as to the
exact circumstances of the action involved. Until 1977 it was the only British
decoration [apart from] a Mention in Despatches that could be awarded
posthumously. It was not until 1920 that an official amendment was made allowing
the VC to be awarded posthumously. Although when first instituted the original
warrant made no mention to posthumous awards it had been decided from the very
beginning that the VC would not be given for an act in which the potentiasl
recipient was killed, or where he died shortly after. In these circumstances an
announcement was made in the London Gazette that had the person survived they
would have been recommended for the VC. There were six instances of this between
1859 and 1897. In 1900 the VC was awarded to F. Roberts although he died just
over 24 hours after the act, and then two years later a further six were
awarded. Finally, in 1907 the 6 instances between 1859 and 1897 were
retrospectively awarded.
The Victoria Cross is still awarded only by Royal assent and is presented by
the Monarch. On the front of the VC reads the inscription "For Valour", and the
hand engraved details of the recipient on the back [name, rank, number, unit and
date of the action]. The ribbon was originally red for the Army and blue for the
Royal Navy but when the Royal Air Force was formed in 1918 it was changed to red
for all the services.