The Victoria Cross owes its evolution to the Crimean War when it was realised that within the British system there was no award open to all ranks without any distinction as to rank or service. The reports by the Times correspondent, William Russell, had brought home to the British public the extraordinary gallantry of the British soldier and at the opening of Parliament in 1854 Her Majesty Queen Victoria, during the Speech from the Throne, paid tribute to the soldiers of "her unconquerable Army" and expressed her admiration and gratitude to them. Consequently on the 19th December 1854 Capt. G.T. Scobell, M.P. moved on the House of Commons ->

"that an humble address be presented to Her Majesty to institute an 'Order of Merit' to be bestowed upon persons serving in the Army or Navy for distinguished and prominent personal gallantry during the present war and to which every grade and individual... may be admissible.">

An assurance was given by the Government of the day that such an Order was under consideration and in an answer to the House of Commons given on the 19th March 1855 as a result of further questioning on the matter the Prime Minister of the day said:

"It is the intention of Her Majesty's Government to Establish an order of that description... it will apply to both Services because we hope that merit will be equally prominent in both."

From this time on, the formation of the text of the Warrant instituting the Victoria Cross was being carried out with Her Majesty Queen Victoria being closely involved. By January 1856 the designs for the medal were being submitted by Lord Panmure, Secretary for War, to Her Majesty.

On the 5th of January 1856 Her Majesty approved the design with one amendment. Her Majesty preferred that the motto on the Cross should be:

"For Valour" rather than" For the Brave" as this would lead to the inference that only those are deemed brave who have got the Cross".

The design having been approved the first metal proof was submitted to the Queen on February 4th and was not accepted. A revised proof was submitted on the 21st February with more amendments being made. Further proofs were then submitted and on the 3rd March 1856 the matter was finalised when the samples were returned to Lord Panmure, one having been chosen as satisfactory.

On March 4th 1856 the War Office instructed Mr C.F. Hancock to prepare 106 specimens.

The Medal Itself

The obverse of the medal has as its main feature the Royal Crown surmounted by a lion and under this a ribbon bearing the motto For Valour. The Cross itself hangs from a bar of laurel leaves supporting the letter V, and the whole is suspended from a crimson ribbon. The original Warrant denotes "a blue riband for the Navy and a red riband for the Air Force." This was the case until the formation of the Royal Air Force when in a Warrant signed by King George V on 22nd May 1920, all Victoria Crosses have the same ribbon irrespective of the Service in which the recipient is acting

The reverse of the medal is unique in that each one issued is engraved with the individual recipient's name, regiment and the date of the action for which the award is made. The reverse of the suspender bar has the name, rank, regiment and serial number of the recipient. The reverse of the Cross has a circle in which is engraved the date of the action

There is no differentiation between a posthumous award in the manner of its engraving or its detail. Such awards have been made only since 1906.

There is provision made in the event that a holder of the Victoria Cross is awarded a Bar to his medal. In the same manner as other awards it is possible to be awarded a Victoria Cross more than once, but this has happened 3 times only. Such awards have an "abbreviated" version of the suspender bar attached to the ribbon above the original and the details of the "new" award are engraved on the reverse of this Bar.

Some Facts about the Victoria Cross

1. Two VC`s have been awarded to Medical Officers attached to the anticedent regiments of The Royal Green Jackets.
2. The ranks and decorations shown were those held at the time of the act of gallantry for which the Victoria Cross was subsequently awarded.
3. Privates in the KRRC and Rifle Brigade were known as Riflemen, although the rank was not formally approved until 1923.
4. 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.
5. Although there are eight recorded cases of forfeiture, in accordance with the terms of the original Warrant, all eight men are still included in the main total and no mention of the forfeiture is made except as a note at the bottom of the War Office List, which covers the period 1856 to August 1914. King George V felt very strongly that the decoration should never be forfeited. In a letter written by his Private Secretary, Lord Stamfordham, on 26th 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 were a VC to be sentenced to be hanged for murder, he should be allowed to wear his VC on the scaffold".
6. Although no women have yet won the VC, a gold representation of the decoration was presented to Mrs Webber Harris (wife of the commanding officer 104th Bengal Fusiliers) by the officers of the Regiment for her "indomitable pluck" in nursing the men of the Regiment during a cholera outbreak in September 1859. The outbreak was so bad that 27 men died in one night.
7. The only ungazetted award is the VC presented to the World War I American Unknown Soldier, buried at Arlington National Cemetery (the Congressional Medal of Honour was conferred on the British Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey).
8. Three men have won the VC twice (these receive an extra bar to their original cross) - Arthur MARTIN-LEAKE, Noel CHAVASSE and Charles UPHAM.
9. The youngest winners were 15 years old (Andrew FITZGIBBON and Thomas FLINN). The oldest was 61 (William RAYNOR).
10. Five civilians have also been awarded the VC (while under military command) - James ADAMS, George CHICKEN, Thomas KAVANAGH, William McDONELL, and Ross MANGLES.
11.There have been three cases where both Father and Son have received the Victoria Cross.
12. There are four known cases of awards to Brothers.
13. One family have won 3 Victoria Crosses.