By Lesley Boot
HMS Hecla, part of the Anglo-French fleet was bombarding the Russian fortress of Bomarsund. As she drew closer a live shell from the fortress landed on the deck and lay there, its fuse hissing and smoking and clearly about to go off. Mate Charles Davis Lucas, aged 20, picked up the shell, carried it to the ship’s side and dropped it overboard where it exploded. This event took place on June 21st, 1854 and from that day Charles Lucas was promoted to lieutenant and awarded the very first Victoria Cross.
It is interesting to note that although the medal was not instituted until 1856, it was made retroactive to cover the Crimean war.
Now move forward to the Helmand province of Afghanistan in August 2013. A joint British and American attack became pinned down by enemy fire and surrounded by insurgents. Lance Corporal Joshua Leakey, 27, of the Parachute regiment took command and risking enemy fire, came to the aid of a wounded US Marine Corps captain and led his evacuation from the battlefield. Lance Corporal Leaky then returned to the gun battle to take the fight to the Taliban, rallying the troops around him. He is now the recipient of the most recent Victoria Cross, awarded on 26th February 2015 and presented to him by the Queen on the 14th April 2015.
Although over 160 years separate these two events, they do perhaps give a sense of what the Victoria Cross represents and the level of gallantry required to merit one.
The Victoria Cross has its origins in the Crimean war (1853- 1856) when Britain was at war with Russia. This was the first major war that was reported on by correspondents in the field. One such war correspondent was William Howard Russell of “The Times” who saw at first hand many heroic acts, these despite a lack of clothing, provisions and equipment and despite the diseases of cholera and typhoid fever. (These diseases claimed 20,000 lives against the 3,400 killed in battle *(1))
At the time, the highest award in the British army was the Order of the Bath but this was only given to senior officers. Junior officers might win promotion or be mentioned in the general’s despatches. The common soldier might expect a campaign medal but these would be given to every man who took part in the war *(2)
Pressure grew for rank and file British servicemen to receive recognition of their gallantry i.e. for an award available to all servicemen that ignored rank.
Senior military personnel were against such a medal believing that the strength of the British Army depended on its ability to fight in tight formation under the control of an officer. They were concerned that individuals might be tempted to “go it alone” in acts of individual bravery in an attempt to win the award, thus breaking tight formations.
Queen Victoria and in particular her consort Prince Albert were supporters of the idea for such an award and the concerns of senior military figures were overridden. Victoria and Albert ordered the War Office to come up with an idea for such a medal and Prince Albert came up with its name – the Victoria Cross.
It was instituted by Royal Warrant on 29th January 1856, to be available to the Army and the Royal Navy (and now also to the RAF). The warrant stated that it was intended to be awarded for “individual instances of merit and valour” and which “we are desirous should be highly prized and sought after”.
The warrant also set out 15 “rules and ordinances” but in essence it was intended for extreme bravery / valour in the presence of the enemy.
“The London Gazette” of 24th February 1857 published a list of the first awards and on 26th June 1857 at a ceremony in Hyde Park, Queen Victoria invested 62 of the 111 Crimean recipients with their Victoria Cross in front of 4,000 troops and 12,000 spectators.
The Queen was on horseback throughout the ceremony and there is a story that, in reaching down, she unwittingly pushed the pin into the chest of Commander Raby, a veteran of the battle of Redan, who bore the pain without flinching. The other 61 recipients seem to have come through unscathed.
Since then, several changes have been made to the rules e.g. in 1858, the list of possible recipients was extended to cover non-military persons i.e. civilians under military command and in 1902, Edward VII granted posthumous VCs to six personnel involved in the Boer War. In 1902, the rules were formally re-written.
There is much debate about the metal used to make the Victoria Crosses. It is said that all 1,358 VCs awarded have been made from the bronze cascabels (attachments for ropes) cast from two Chinese-made cannon that were melted down after being captured from the Russians at the 1855 Siege of Sebastopol of the Crimean War and kept in the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich. Doubts exist about this however. Research into historical documents and scientific analysis has led to claims that the Woolwich cannon were not used until 1914, 58 years after the first Victoria Crosses had been produced *(3)
Other sources seek to dispel the rumour that current VCs are no longer made from the Chinese-made cannon captured at Sebastopol, claiming that there is still enough metal from this source to make 60 more crosses and the truncated cannon themselves can be seen at the Royal Artillery Museum in Woolwich *(4)
The remains of the cascabels are stored in special vaults at the Royal Logistical Corps base in Donnington, Telford. They are only accessed under exceptional circumstances, most recently on 23rd October 1959 when 50 ounces of metal was removed, enough to make 12 medals. This metal was sent to Hancocks, jewellers in the Burlington Arcade in London who have made the medals from the outset.
Bronze is a metal of poor quality. It is prone to shattering so it has to be cast in sand. It takes a good deal of finishing so that there are minor variations in design. As a consequence, no two Victoria Crosses are exactly alike.
It was Queen Victoria who favoured a Maltese Cross design with a royal crest. It was originally proposed that the inscribed motto should read “For the Brave” but Queen Victoria herself substituted “For Valour” in case anyone should come to the conclusion that the only brave men in battle were those who won the cross.
The face of the bar is embossed with laurel leaves and the recipient’s details, usually the rank, name and unit are engraved on the back. The cross also carries the date of the bravery act inscribed on the reverse.
Until 1918, Army recipients were given a red (crimson) ribbon, recipients from the Navy being given blue. When the RAF was formed on 1st April, 1918, it was decided that recipients from all three services should wear a crimson ribbon with the medal. *(5)
A regimental officer is usually the one to make a recommendation for a Victoria Cross and it then needs 3 witnesses. The reigning monarch is presented with the recommendation for approval. If a group of service personnel are involved in the act of gallantry and deemed to be equally deserving of the award, a name is drawn by ballot. *(6)
A number of private and public collections of the Victoria Cross exist, the largest of its kind in the world being that assembled by Lord Ashcroft and containing over 180 VCs, which is more than one in seven of those ever awarded. They are on display in the Lord Ashcroft Gallery, Imperial War Museum, London along with personal information about each VC holder and the action that led to his decoration. The “London Gazette” citation that accompanied the award of each VC is detailed in full * (7)
In World War 1, 628 Victoria Crosses were awarded to 627 recipients, Captain Noel Chavasse being given a second VC after dying from battlefield injuries in 1917. His is one of only 3 VCs and Bar (or double VCs) that have ever been awarded. *(8)
Of the 628 WW1 Victoria Crosses, 10 were given to men from the City of Birmingham.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
*(1) www.victoriacrossheroes.com
*(2) www.victoriacross.org.uk/aahistor.htm
*(3) “The Bravest of the Brave”, The Story of the Victoria Cross, John Glanfield.
*(4) “The Victoria and George Cross: The Complete History in three volumes, edited by Christopher Wright and Glenda Anderson.
*(5) www.greatwar.co.uk/medals/ww1-gallantry-awards.htm
*(6) www.greatwar.co.uk/medals/ww1-gallantry-awards.htm
*(7) www.lordashcroft.com/philanthropy/lord-ashcroft-medals/
*(8) www.victoriacross.org.uk/vcrosshtm