Recipients of the Victoria Cross Prior to 1914 By Name of Recipient
Compiled & Edited by Stephen Herold
Instituted by Queen Victoria on 5 February, 1856, the Victoria Cross was intended
to reward individual acts of bravery. It was the lesson of the Crimean War that
showed the lack of any adequate way to reward brave actions by lower ranking officers
and enlisted men.The Decoration is made of bronze, originally from captured Russian
cannons in the Crimea, and so its worth lay only in its honor and not its intrinsic
value. Always difficult to earn, it has remained to this day one of the most honorable
and sought after rewards for military service to country.
The names on this list show the recipient's rank when the award was granted and
subsequent rank achieved up to 1906 in parenthesis ( ). Recipients alive in 1906
have an asterix * after their name. Regimental unit names are those in use when
the particular V.C. was granted, and the date listed is when the act of bravery
was performed. No Victoria Crosses were awarded from 1905 until the First World
War in 1914, so these 522 first awards stand in a group by themselves.
Awards A-C | Awards D-G |
Awards H-L | Awards M-Q | Awards
R-Z
If any errors or omissions are found on these pages please Contact the Editor and they will be corrected.
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