Victoria Cross: Difference between revisions
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== External links== | == External links== | ||
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Victoria_Cross_recipients_of_the_Indian_Army Indian Army recipients of the VC] Wikipedia | *[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Victoria_Cross_recipients_of_the_Indian_Army Indian Army recipients of the VC] Wikipedia | ||
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Indian_Mutiny_Victoria_Cross_recipients List of Indian Mutiny Victoria Cross recipients] Wikipedia | |||
*[http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/victoriacross.asp The Victoria Cross Registers] at The National Archives | *[http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/victoriacross.asp The Victoria Cross Registers] at The National Archives | ||
*[http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/exact=victoria+cross/start=1 Victoria Cross entries] ''London Gazette'' (search results) | *[http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/exact=victoria+cross/start=1 Victoria Cross entries] ''London Gazette'' (search results) | ||
Revision as of 02:39, 11 July 2010
The Victoria Cross is the highest award for bravery. Queen Victoria introduced the award on the 29th January 1856, the decoration is inscribed "For Valor".
Prior to the issue of a Royal warrant on 21st October 1911, the medal was awarded only to British officers and servicemen. However after that date native Indian officers and soldiers were eligible to receive this honour. (Previously the highest award available to them had been the Indian Order of Merit). In fact, the first VC to an Indian born recipient was not conferred until 1914 when this was awarded to Sepoy Khudad Khan for an act of bravery in Belgium.
Holders of the award are listed in The National Archives, and citations are announced in the London Gazette.
The youngest recipient was Arthur Fitzgibbon of the Indian Medical establishment . He was 15 years and 3 months at the time of his award in 1861. For further details see Apothecaries
The oldest recipient was William Raynor of the Bengal Veteran Establishment - who was awarded the medal for gallantry during the Indian Mutiny of 1857. He was 61 years old.
Records
The following are held in the National Archives:
- Victoria Cross Register, Volume 1, 20 February 1856 - 6 August 1864 (WO 98/3)
- Victoria Cross Register, Volume 2, 16 August 1864 - 31 January 1900 (WO 98/4)
- Victoria Cross Register, Volume 3, 2 February 1900 - 1 September 1944 (WO 98/8)
FIBIS resources
- Victoria Crosses awarded during the Indian Mutiny
- The Army Rank of Conductor, and the History of an HEIC Conductor VC by Lawrie Butler FIBIS Journals No 18.
External links
- Indian Army recipients of the VC Wikipedia
- List of Indian Mutiny Victoria Cross recipients Wikipedia
- The Victoria Cross Registers at The National Archives
- Victoria Cross entries London Gazette (search results)
- Iain Stewart’s The Victoria Cross has the following pages in relation to India:
- rlc-conductor then click on Articles, Features & Essays then click on
- "A Trying Occasion: An account of the Indian Mutiny" which gives an account of the blowing up of the Delhi[ammunition] magazine on the 11th May 1857 by Ordnance Officers and Conductors which resulted in the award of three VCs to Lieutenant Forrest, Lieutenant Raynor and Conductor Buckley
- "The 'Conductor James Miller VC' Scrapbook" about VC recipient Sub-Conductor James Miller who was also awarded the medal for his role in the Indian Mutiny
- The Victoria Cross; an official chronicle of the deeds of personal valour achieved in presence of the enemy during the Crimean and Baltic campaigns, the Indian mutinies, and the Persia, China, and New Zealand wars (1865)google books