Only a rare breed of men achieve the hallowed status of being called the ?bravest of the brave? and many of them have been awarded that one medal that is perhaps best known for exceptional gallantry, the Victoria Cross. Since its inception in 1856, a total of 1,355 have been awarded to individuals; with three men having received bars ? the equivalent of a second Victoria Cross ? and one has gone to the ?Unknown Warrior? in America.
The Victoria Cross was instituted by Queen Victoria after she vetoed a suggestion from her advisors ? under the guidance of her husband Prince Albert ? to call it the Military Order of Victoria. Instead, she simply named it the Victoria Cross, choosing for it the design of a Maltese cross signed with a royal crest and a scroll, that simply says, ?For Valour?.
The VC is today arguably the world?s best-known award for bravery. And while it is true that many deeds go unrecognised, it is equally true that one rarely questions the courage of those who receive this remarkable recognition, many of whom having won it posthumously.
Interestingly though, the Royal Warrant, which first announced the creation of this single decoration for the British Army and the Royal Navy was rather far-sighted to include instructions for the award of a second VC in exceptional cases, has evolved over the time to include the RAF. Manufactured only by Hannocks of London, each medal has a secret mark that helps in checking its authenticity. This fortunately prevents any forgeries or fakes. And while the youngest winner was a 15-year-old Andrew Fitzgibbon and the oldest Lt William Raynor at 62, the Cross has also been won by four pairs of brothers, three fathers and sons and by three members of the a single family, the Gough?s. Certainly, these were no ordinary men.
Inspired initially as a school boy by listening to his father?s experiences of the D-Day landings at Normandy in World War II, and later by the legendary tales of winners of the VC, Michael Ashcroft ? the author of this book ? has today, in the 150th year since the inception of the award, the world?s largest individual collection of these medals. He has 145 VCs, which include three official replacements, an unofficial cross and an un-issued specimen medal. However, it was only after he turned sufficiently wealthy, after the age of 40, that he acquired his first VC.
Despite being an avid collector, Lord Ashcroft?s collection of these rare medals has been built up by buying those medals that do not remain with the recipient?s family or because the medal means little to the remote descendents of the winner. It could also be from families that cannot agree which member should have the medal and in some cases, from families or the winner that has hit hard times and needs to sell the medal for money. It is only such medals that are bought and added to the Trust that Michael Ashcroft has created in 2005.
But these medals don?t come cheap. They range from ?29,000 plus taxes for the first medal that he bought in 1985, to over ?2,00,000 for the one that was earned by Sergeant Norman Jackson during World War II. Jackson had crawled along the burning fuselage of his aircraft as it raced at 200 mph and at 20,000 feet, trying to extinguish a blaze and being badly burnt in the process. He eventually hit the ground with a smouldering parachute and a broken ankle, but earned the VC for his exceptional act of valour.
This book is a collector?s item in its own right. It tells the story of each of the campaigns since the Crimean war that ended in 1856 and after which the first Victoria Crosses were awarded, until the War in Iraq where the most recent Victoria Cross was earned after a gap of nearly 34 years since the Falkland War. The stories are many but each is unique, telling the act of sheer cold courage that lead the winners to do what lesser mortals could never have done.
?Maroof Raza is a defence analyst