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The British Empire at its height stretched around the globe. From Asia to the Americas, scores of countries were conquered or assimilated into the greatest commonwealth of nations in history. Many of these countries were won, and held, at the point of the bayonet, and British soldiers and sailors fought long and hard campaigns in deserts, mountains and jungles to maintain and expand the Empire. Fighting, though, means bloodshed; it also means bravery. Victoria Crosses were awarded in operations against Persia, Abyssinia and China, in New Zealand, Burma and Sudan, in the Perak War, the Andaman Islands Expedition and the Mashona Rebellion to name but a few of the forty-four different campaigns of the colonial era.The Victoria Cross Wars explains Britains involvement in these little-known and forgotten campaigns and details the battles and engagements that resulted in the granting of the most highly regarded award for valor in the face of the enemy. The greater conflicts of the twentieth century receive due treatment as do more recent operations in the troubled parts of the world.A total of 1,358 VCs have been awarded since the cross of valor was first instituted in 1855, the latest of which was announced in February 2015. The stories behind the awarding of these medals have been repeated in countless anthologies but The Victoria Cross Wars explains not just what the men did, but why they were there and what they were fighting for.
This ebook edition contains the full text version as per the book. Doesn't include original photographic and illustrated material. VICTORIA CROSS HEROES tells the stories of over 150 individuals whose bravery has earned them the Victoria Cross, Britain's most prestigious medal for courage in action. The book is introduced by Michael Ashcroft, who owns over ten per cent of all VCs ever awarded. He explains the history of the medal and the story of his fascination with it. The main text of the book tells the stories of both those recipients whose medals are in his collection and those whose stories featured in the television series. Each chapter covers a different conflict, from the Crimean War to Iraq.
The Victoria and George Crosses are the highest military and civil decorations of the United Kingdom, awarded for gallantry. The Victoria Cross, introduced in 1856, is awarded to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries for valour in the face of the enemy, while the George Cross was introduced during World War II so that civilians could also be awarded for acts of heroism, or conspicuous courage in circumstances of extreme danger. There have been 1,356 Victoria Crosses awarded, and there have been 404 recipients of the George Cross since 1940. The Imperial War Museum is opening the Lord Ashcroft Gallery in November 2010 to showcase not only their large collection of Victoria and George crosses, but also Lord Ashcroft's collection, which he has loaned to the Museum for 10 years. The gallery will therefore contain the largest collection of VCs and GCs in the world. The museum envisages around 150,000 visitors a year. This fully illustrated book contains the stories of over 80 recipients: a mixture of individuals - including men, women and children from different countries - who performed their acts of heroism across the last century and a half.
The Victoria Cross had been in existence over 60 years when Archduke Franz Ferdinand fell to an assassins bullet, the event that triggered a Europe-wide call to arms in August 1914. It was an award that democratised military honours, for it was open to all ranks, the sole qualification being a display of conspicuous bravery in the field. The sovereign whose name it bore was personally responsible for the Crosss simple legend: For Valour. Forged, it is said, from cannons captured during the Crimean War, the medals were rather too plain for some tastes. The Times derided the VC as a dull, heavy, tasteless prize when the first investiture ceremony took place in Hyde Park on 26 June 1857. But its virtue, quite deliberately, lay in its very simplicity. It was the action for which the medal was given that should dazzle, not the decoration itself. The Victoria Cross became pre-eminent: first in line when pinned to a uniform or appended to a recipients name. Over 500 VCs had been awarded by the outbreak of the First World War. That figure more than doubled during the four-year-long conflict. Trench warfare, when the rival camps might be dug in less than 100 yards apart, afforded endless opportunities to show courage and mettle in the face of the enemy. Many were honoured for attacking feats, often taking the fight to the foe when the odds were stacked against survival. But hurling oneself into the fray was but one of valours many faces. Stretcher-bearers, medical staff, pipers and chaplains also showed the same strength in adversity, the same disregard for personal safety, the same willingness to exceed the call of duty. And, in over 180 instances, a readiness to make the ultimate sacrifice for King and Country. The call to act could come at any moment. In William McFadzeans case it came when the safety pins slipped from two grenades in a crowded trench just before the Somme battle. He flung himself onto the bombs, saving his comrades at the cost of his own life. For Rex Warneford it came in the skies over Ghent on 7 June 1915, when he became the first man to down a German airship in flight. He was thrown from his plane during a flight ten days later. For Jack Cornwell it came during the Battle of Jutland, when, mortally wounded, he stuck doggedly to his post awaiting orders. He was 16 years old. This book chronicles the inspiring, thrilling, humbling and deeply moving stories behind the 628 Victoria Crosses awarded during the course of the Great War. Without inscription, those 628 medals, like all the others cast by London jewelers, Hancocks over the past century and a half, would have no intrinsic worth. Once earned, inscribed and conferred, they assume inestimable value.
This fully revised paperback edition of the complete chronological record of VC holders is an essential work of reference for every student of military history. All the British and Commonwealth servicemen who have been awarded the highest honour for exceptional acts of bravery and self-sacrifice are commemorated here. The first VCs awarded for the Crimean War and in the nineteenth-century colonial wars are described, as are the VCs awarded in the world wars of the twentieth century and the most recent VCs awarded during present-day conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The extraordinary exploits recounted in this fascinating book make unforgettable reading.
For Valour tells the remarkable stories of the 100 Australians who have been awarded the Victoria Cross for exceptional acts of bravery and self-sacrifice in battle. From Captain Neville Howse of the New South Wales Army Medical Corps in 1900 to Corporal Cameron Baird of the 2nd Commando Regiment in 2013, heroic actions in the Boer War appear alongside those from the First World War, North Russia, the Second World War, Vietnam and Afghanistan. Vivid descriptions of events on the battlefield are matched with biographical profiles of each of the recipients to provide insights into their lives outside wartime service. With a foreword from Daniel Keighran VC, new archival research and striking photographs and artworks from the Australian War Memorial, For Valour commemorates the servicemen who have been awarded the military's highest honour.
The Crimean War saw the introduction of the Victoria Cross, which was awarded to 111 men. Whilst the history of the Crimean War has been related many times, never before have the stories of those individuals who were awarded the VC been told. In this, the result of four decades of accumulated research, renowned historian James Bancroft describes who the men were, how they gained the Victoria Cross, and what happened to them afterwards. Great attention has been given to checking the correct spelling of the names of people and locations, burial places and new memorials, and dates of awards and promotions. The author has made every effort to contact museums and other establishments to get up-to-date information on the whereabouts of medals and their accessibility. The men recorded here displayed valor and determination resulting in many deeds of exceptional courage which became a regular occurrence in the illustrious annals of the British Army. Among them are heroes who had the guts to put themselves in mortal danger by picking up live shells that could have exploded and blown them apart at any moment, gallant troopers who took part in a cavalry charge that they knew was doomed before it began and they were about to be cut to pieces, and valiant individuals who had the audacity to sneak into unknown territory to take the conflict into the enemys back yard and risk capture and ill-treatment. This account of the fascinating lives of these heroes is accompanied with forty-five portraits.
It's a war story that is told every time the career of Billy Bishop is discussed: On June 2, 1917, the young pilot single-handedly took out a German airfield in an early morning raid at the height of the Great War. For this, he was awarded the Victoria Cross, and a place in Canadian history. And yet, the attack never happened. In this explosive new biography, Brereton Greehous exposes the myth of Billy Bishop. While his bravery never comes into question (Bishop was as courageous as any of the men who risked their lives in those early warplanes) his credibility as a storyteller does. From exaggerations and half-truths to flat-out lies, stories of Bishop's legendary exploits contain as much fiction as they do fact. Greenhous reveals many startling truths: he presents evidence that some of the medals Bishop wore late in his career were unearned, uncovers a number of examples of Bishop embellishing or inventing combat stories, and, most significantly, shows that the only account of the ace's raid on the German airfield came from Bishop himself. Even official German records of casualties fail to corroborate the Canadian's claims. The Making of Billy Bishop is a book certain to stir up controversy. Twenty years ago, a documentary film questioning Bishop's credentials as a hero was considered so blasphemous that a senate investigation was launched in an attempt to restore the pilot's name. Now, Greenhous's research vindicates the claims of the filmmakers, and re-ignites an argument once thought settled.
An account of how the VC was won by 520 of its recipients. Brief biographical information is provided in respect of commissioned officers. A portrait photograph of the recipient is included in 392 cases; typically the subject is deicted in uniform and wearing the VC and medals. The appendices include transcripts of several official reports which relate to Kavanagh's VC deed, the Rorke's Drift VC action (written by Chad VC and Reynolds VC) and the posthumous VC deeds of Coghill and Melvill. Also included is a list of VCs by service or regiment.