Victoria Cross

It is almost impossible to win a VC. In the hundred-and-fifty years since it was created, the number of British and Commonwealth troops who've seen action is in the tens of millions, but only 1,351 of them have been awarded the Victoria Cross. The chances of surviving a VC action are just one in ten, but if you do survive, the medal can never be taken away from you. You can go to the gallows wearing it. And no matter how many letters you have after your name, VC always comes first. ~ Jeremy Clarkson

The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously awarded to service personnel in the broader British Empire (later Commonwealth of Nations), with most successor independent nations now having established their own honours systems and no longer recommending British honours. It may be awarded to a person of any military rank in any service and to civilians under military command. No civilian has received the award since 1879. Since the first awards were presented by Queen Victoria in 1857, two thirds of all awards have been personally presented by the British monarch. The investitures are usually held at Buckingham Palace.

C

• It is almost impossible to win a VC. In the hundred-and-fifty years since it was created, the number of British and Commonwealth troops who've seen action is in the tens of millions, but only 1,351 of them have been awarded the Victoria Cross. The chances of surviving a VC action are just one in ten, but if you do survive, the medal can never be taken away from you. You can go to the gallows wearing it. And no matter how many letters you have after your name, VC always comes first.
  • Jeremy Clarkson, The Victoria Cross: For Valour (2003)

• First off, the whole point of airborne troops is surprise: you don't know they're coming until they're there. But because Cain arrived 24 hours after the first wave, the surprise was gone. And to make matters worse, the landing zone was some eight miles from the bridge. So, thanks to some incompetent planning by the top brass in England, the Germans knew that Cain and his men were coming, they knew where he landed, they knew where he was going, and they had the wherewithal to do something about it.
  • Jeremy Clarkson, The Victoria Cross: For Valour (2003)

• You know, we've a rather warped sense of what constitutes bravery these days. I mean, even David Beckham is called a hero for scoring a penalty. But when you look at VC winners and hear their stories... well, enough said.
  • Jeremy Clarkson, The Victoria Cross: For Valour (2003)

W

• The Decoration of the Victoria Cross was instituted in 1856 and the award made retrospective to the commencement of the Crimean War. In shape it takes the form of a Maltese Cross, measures 1 2/5 inch square, weighs about 434 grains, and is of bronze, being cast from cannon taken by our army at Sebastopol. It is attached by a "V" to a bar, upon which is a sprig of laurel. On the obverse the Royal Crown surmounted by a lion occupies the centre, with a scroll underneath bearing the words "For Valour." The reverse is quite plain, with an indented circle in the centre, in which the date or dates of the act of bravery are engraved. At the back of the bar is the name of the recipient, and the whole is suspended by a Riband, blue for the Navy, red for the Army. The Warrant authorizes a Bar to be attached to the Riband for any further act of conspicuous bravery on the part of the owner of the Cross, but no such bar has ever yet been issued, although statements to the contrary have frequently been made.
  • Philip A. Wilkins, The History of the Victoria Cross: Being An Account of the 520 Acts of Bravery for which the Decoration has been Awarded, and Portraits of 392 Recipients (1904), originally published in London, reprinted 1970 by Benchmark Publishing Company, p. ix