The following article was published by "The Times" on 2 December 2002 to help publicise the VC and GC Memorial Appeal. It provides interesting background reading with respect to the two awards.
THE VC and GC Memorial Appeal, launched last Thursday at the Imperial War Museum by Admiral Sir Alan West, First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff, aims to raise £250,000 for the first National Memorial to all the men and women who won the highest of bravery awards : the Victoria Cross and the George Cross.
The memorial will be in Westminster Abbey and unveiled and dedicated on May 14 next year. The sum will also provide a fund for the restoration or renewal of the graves of VC and GC holders which are not in the care of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
The Victoria Cross was instituted in 1856 when Queen Victoria took a close interest in its design. She presented 62 to heroes of the wars against Russia, in the Crimea and the Baltic, at an open-air investiture in Hyde Park on June 26,1857.
Tradition has it that the crosses were cast from the metal of Russian guns captured at Sevastapol, but it is believed the bronze came from two Chinese guns captured by British troops near Canton in the 1840s and stored alongside the Russian guns at Woolwich Arsenal. All subsequent crosses have been made from the same metal and enough remains for a further 85 VCs.
The ethos associated with both the VC and GC is that of utterly selfless courage — sheer bravery is not enough. The near certainty — and on many occasions the absolute certainty — of giving one's life to protect or save someone else in mortal danger or lead them in their operational duty in face of a seemingly overwhelming odds are the criteria for the award.
The Victoria Cross has been awarded to 1,350 individuals, three of whom received a Bar representing a second award. Two of these were Army doctors. 294 VCs have been awarded posthumously. There are 16 living holders of the VC: two in Australia, one in Canada, one in India, four Gurkha Riflemen in Nepal, one in South Africa, six in the UK and one in Zimbabwe.
The oldest survivor is Lieutenant-Colonel Eric Wilson, VC. He was serving as a captain in command of a machine-gun company of the Somaliland Camel Corps when Mussolini ordered his troops into British Somaliland in August 1940. Although his posts were smashed by the Italian artillery, and he was severely wounded in the shoulder and one eye, he and his Yao tribesmen got the guns back on their tripods and fought on until overwhelmed. Believed killed in the final enemy onslaught, he was awarded a posthumous VC, only to be rescued from a prison camp hospital some months later.
The only surviving Royal Navy VC is Lieutenant-Commander lan Fraser, VC, DSC, who won his award for his two-man midget submarine attack on the Japanese cruiser Takao in the Singapore Channel in July 1945. Just a week before the atom bomb on Hiroshima heralded the end of the war, he guided his tiny vessel through a maze of Japanese minefields so he and his sole crewman, Leading Seaman James Magennis, could attach limpet mines to the cruiser's hull. Both men were awarded the VC.
The George Cross was instituted in 1940 at the wish of King George VI, after whom the award is named, to recognise gallantry by members of the Armed Services, particularly those involved in bomb and mine disposal, and the civilian services — the fire brigades, police, members of the air-raid precautions organisation, and civilians themselves during German air attacks on British cities and ports. As there were already three other awards for gallantry not in the face of the enemy — the Albert Medal, the Edward Medal and Empire Gallantry Medal — it was later decided to translate all living holders of these awards to the George Cross; 155 direct awards of the George Cross have been made, of which 82 were awarded posthumously.
The oldest living holder of the George Cross is Pilot Officer Sydney Wiltshire, GC, of the Royal Air Force, now aged 93 and living in New Zealand. His award characterises exactly the ethos of selfless gallantry in the saving of a comrade's life when the chance of his own survival was, at best, extremely doubtful. While under flying instruction from Sleaford, on October 21,1929, his Lynx-Avro 504 biplane stalled during a practice forced-landing, crashed and caught fire. His instructor, Flight Lieutenant H.E. Power, was trapped in the wreckage with his clothing alight. Regardless of the heat and flames, Wiltshire reached into the cockpit to free Power's foot and haul him to safety. Both men were badly burnt. Wiltshire received the Empire Gallantry Medal, later converted to the George Cross.
The George Cross to which later generations would probably most readily relate was the posthumous award to the 22-year-old BOAC air stewardess Barbara Jane Harrison from Bradford. On April 8, 1968, she was aboard a Boeing 707 leaving Heathrow for Singapore when the number 2 engine caught fire. The pilot returned the aircraft to the runway but the rear exit escape chute became twisted, calling for the steward to climb down to untangle it. Left alone to lead passengers in the rear of the cabin to safety, when flames around her made that exit impossible, she directed them to another. Remaining at her post, she was overcome while attempting to save a physically handicapped man.
The Victoria Cross was awarded to the Unknown American Soldier of the First World War and there have been two collective awards of the George Cross : the first to the Island Fortress of Malta, in recognition of the gallantry and fortitude of the civilian population during the Axis naval siege and air bombardment of 1941-42; and to the Royal Ulster Constabulary for the courage of its members in the face of the terrorist threat. to their lives and those of their families since 1969.
The memorial will be of simple design, with the two decorations depicted in bronze and silver, with enamel ribbons, and the inscription "Remember their valour and gallantry". It will be inlaid in the paving near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the west end of Westminster Abbey.
Donations by cheque to The VC and GC Memorial Appeal, Horse Guards, Whitehall, London SW1A 2AX or call 020-7930 3506 for further information.