Foundation and the first investiture
Commemorative print celebrating the award of the VC to Crimean veterans.
NAM 1956-02-855-4
Royal Warrant
A Royal Warrant founded the VC on 29 January 1856 as an acknowledgement of the bravery displayed by many soldiers and sailors during the Crimean War (1854-1856).
Unlike its predecessors, the new award was open to all ranks and would only be presented for acts of supreme gallantry in the face of the enemy. The first 85 awards, announced in the London Gazette of 24 February 1857, were made retrospective to the start of the Crimean War in the autumn of 1854.
Crimean Heroes
The first 62 crosses were presented to veterans of the Crimean War by Queen Victoria on 26 June 1857. The Queen elected to stay on horseback throughout the ceremony, which took place in Hyde Park, London.
The first investiture, Hyde Park, 26 June 1857. NAM 1968-06-292
The event was attended by large crowds who greeted the VC heroes with rapturous applause. Apparently, the Queen stabbed one of the heroes, Commander Raby, RN, through the chest as she pinned the cross to his uniform. The Commander stood unflinching while the Queen fastened the pin through his flesh!
Design
This early casting of the cross was made by the jewellers Hancocks and Co. of London, who still make VCs for the British Army. The prototype VC, submitted to Queen Victoria for approval in February 1856, and the first 111 crosses awarded, were thought to be cast from Russian guns captured in the Crimea. There is, however, a possibility that the bronze cannon used was Chinese, having been captured during the First Opium War (1839-1842) and then stored at the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich.
Early casting of a Victoria Cross, 1856.
NAM 1963-10-59-1
The decoration takes the form of a cross pattée, 1.375 inches (35 mm) wide, bearing a crown surmounted by a lion, and the inscription ‘FOR VALOUR’. This was originally to have been ‘FOR BRAVERY’, until it was changed on the recommendation of Queen Victoria, who thought some might mistakenly consider that only the recipients of the VC were brave in battle.
Originally, the VC ribbon was dark blue for the Royal Navy and crimson for the Army. Shortly before the Royal Air Force was formed in 1918, King George V approved the recommendation that the crimson ribbon should be adopted by all three services. When the ribbon is worn alone a miniature of the cross is pinned on it.
Changes to the Royal Warrant
Since the inception of the VC there have been 14 additional Royal Warrants that have changed the original terms and conditions set out for awards. Recognising the bravery of civilian volunteers during the Indian Mutiny (1857-1859), an 1858 warrant extended the eligibility of the VC to ‘non-military persons’ serving with the forces. Five civilians have been awarded the VC.
NAM 1958-12-47
Ross Lewis Mangles
Ross Lewis Mangles, an Assistant Magistrate of the Bengal Civil Service at Patna, was awarded the VC for saving Richard Taylor, a wounded soldier of the 37th (North Hampshire) Regiment.
This was following an ambush at the relief of Arrah during the Indian Mutiny. Mangles had volunteered his services to assist the relieving force and, when it came under attack on the night of 29 July 1857, despite his own wounds, lack of food and sleep, he carried the soldier on his back for some five miles (8km) until they reached safety.
In 1867, in recognition of the services performed by local auxiliary units during the Maori uprisings in New Zealand (1863-1866), eligibility for the VC was extended to local forces serving with Imperial troops. This eligibility was further extended to all colonial and auxiliary troops in 1881.
Indian VCs
The Royal Warrant of 21 October 1911, published in the London Gazette of 12 November 1911, extended eligibility to Indian soldiers. Prior to this, the award of the VC was restricted to Europeans in the Indian Army. Since 1911, 29 soldiers from the Indian sub-continent have been awarded the VC.
NAM 1951-02-10-29
Ganju Lama VC MM
Rifleman Ganju Lama VC MM, 1st/7th Gurkha Rifles, won the VC on 12 June 1944 near the village of Ningthookong in Burma. His unit was attempting to stem the enemy's advance when it came under heavy machine-gun and tank fire. Rifleman Ganju Lama, with complete disregard for his own safety, took his Piat gun and crawling forward to within 30 yards of the enemy tanks, knocked two of them out. Despite a broken wrist and two other serious wounds to his right and left hands he then moved forward and engaged the tank crew who were trying to escape. Not until he had accounted for all of them did he consent to have his wounds dressed.
