Irish servicemen

and the victoria cross

Within the history of the Victoria Cross are some very interesting facts about those Irishmen who won Britains highest award for gallantry. The awards made to Irish soldiers is something we Irish can be very proud of. The Victoria Cross is the highest war honour of the British Empire and the Commonwealth of Nations. Since 1881 it has been awarded to service personnel for extraordinary valour and devotion to duty while facing the enemy. Between 1858 and 1881 the Victoria Cross could be awarded for actions taken ' under circumstances of extreme danger ' not in the face of the enemy. Six people were awarded Victoria Crosses under this clause until it was amended in 1881 to only allow acts ' in the presence of the enemy ' It was awarded to members of the British Armed Forces which included Irish service personnel until 1922. It is currently available to personnel of any rank in any service, and to allies serving under or with British Forces. It is the highest honour in the Commonwealth honours system, placed before all other orders, decorations and medals.

The Origin of the Medal

There is no doubt that courage inspires, for it is contagious. When brave men go forward under fire others follow. But equally it takes courage to crawl, walk or run under fire to recover a wounded comrade or supply those around you with ammunition, to defend yourself and your friends against great odds, or when your aircraft is shot to pieces to still fly it to the intended target as one Irishman did. It takes great courage to turn your stricken ship towards the enmy to ram it, knowing that the outcome will undoubtedly be death or severe injury. It was the young Queen Victoria who recognised that the bravery of her soldiers and sailors had, apart from the officers, gone unrewarded. She wanted a new medal to be struck for all ranks who conducted themselves with unusual bravery. The initial Royal Warrant of 1856 stipulated ' that the cross shall only be awarded for most conspicious bravery, or some daring or pre-eminent act of valour or self-sacrifice or extreme devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy ' and was made retrospective to June 1854 to cover the recent was against Russia. The medal is the shape of a Cross Patte ( from the French for ' with feet ' or ' paws ' and referring in the case of a cross, to the spreading ends ) - rather than a Maltese Cross, as described in the original warrant.

It measures 1.375 inches across, and with the suspender bar and link weighs around 0.87 ounces. It's dull in colour, made as it is from gunmetal - specifically at first, from the cascables of two cannon captured from the Russians at Sebastopol in the Crimea, although later in the First World War it's probable that other gun metal was used. The cascabel is the large knob at the rear of a cannon which holds the rope for transporting it - and the two original cannon from Sabastopol stand outside the Officer's Mess in Woolwich. The Cross is cast, then chased and finished by hand, then the award, suspender bar and link treated chemically to give an overall dull brown appearance which is darker in some issues than in others. Although all VCs are cast and finished by the London Jewellers Messrs Hancocks ( now Hancocks and Co ) and always have been, the chunk of gunmetal from which they are made is kept in a vault tended by the Royal Logistic Corps in Donnington, and is rarely seen. On the front of the Cross is simply insribed ' For Valour ' - the other details of the recipient are on the reverse. The suspender bar is decorated with laurel leaves ( the traditional Roman award to a hero was a wreath of laurel ) and on the reverse is inscribed the name, rank and regiment of the recipient, along with the date of the deed engraved on the central circle.

In the unlikely event of a Bar being awarded to the VC - there have been just three - the bar is designed like the suspender bar, but without the V-shaped lug for hanging the cross itself. The ribbon, referred to as ' red ' in the original warrant, is more properly crimson, although it was first ordained to be dark blue for the Royal Navy and crimson for the Army. Shortly before the formation of the Royal Air Force on the 1st April 1918, the King approved the use of crimson for all future awards. The first presentation of the award was made in Hyde Park, London on the 26th June 1857 when Queen Victoria decorated 62 Officers and men for their actions in the Crimea.

Changes to the Warrant

Since the inception of the Victoria Cross there have been a number of changes within the warrant. In October 1857 it was extended to include the Honourable East India Company. This, however did not include native soldiers. From 1858 to 1881 there was an extension granted for cases of conspicuous courage and bravery displayed under circumstances of danger, but not before the enemy ( six awards were made ) In January 1867 there was an extension to local forces in New Zealand and in the colonies and their dependencies, and as late as 1911 the warrant was extended to include native officers, NCOs and men of the Indian Army. Surprisingly, it was not until 1920 that an official amendment was instituted allowing the VC to be awarded posthumously, reflecting the experience of the Great War. The original warrant made no mention of posthumous awards and it had been decided that the VC would not be given for an act in which the intended recipient had been killed or where he had died shortly afterwards. However, in 1900 the VC was awarded to Frederick Roberts for his action at the Battle of Colenso, although he died a day later. Two years later a further six VCs were awarded posthumously and in 1907 six others dating between 1859 and 1897 were also awarded. In all, 298 VCs have been awarded posthumously. Until 1920 the award could be forfeited for discreditable acts; the VC holder also lost his pension. In the history of the award this occurred eight times, for desertion, assault, theft, and bigamy. The eight men who lost the award were; Edward Daniel, James McGuire ( Irish ) Valentine Bambrick, Michael Murphy ( Irish ) Thomas Lane ( Irish ) Frederick Corbett, James Collis and George Ravenhill. George V revoked this clause in response to a letter from James Collis's widow, declaring: ' Even were a VC to e sentenced to be hanged for murder, he should be allowed to wear the VC on the scaffold. ' The names of all eight men were restored to the register. Originally the recommendation for the award was to be made by a superior officer, but this too was changed by Royal Warrant, which allowed for a VC to awarded on the result of a ballot by the man's peers in order to recognise the bravery of a larger group of men through one elected representative. Forty-six VCs have been awarded this way.