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The Evolution Of The Victoria Cross
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Book Synopsis The Evolution of the Victoria Cross by : M. J. Crook
Download or read book The Evolution of the Victoria Cross written by M. J. Crook and published by . This book was released on 1975 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Book Synopsis Victoria Cross Heroes by : Michael Ashcroft
Download or read book Victoria Cross Heroes written by Michael Ashcroft and published by Headline. This book was released on 2012-10-25 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This ebook edition contains the full text version as per the book. Doesn't include original photographic and illustrated material. VICTORIA CROSS HEROES tells the stories of over 150 individuals whose bravery has earned them the Victoria Cross, Britain's most prestigious medal for courage in action. The book is introduced by Michael Ashcroft, who owns over ten per cent of all VCs ever awarded. He explains the history of the medal and the story of his fascination with it. The main text of the book tells the stories of both those recipients whose medals are in his collection and those whose stories featured in the television series. Each chapter covers a different conflict, from the Crimean War to Iraq.
Book Synopsis The History of the Victoria Cross by : Philip Aveling Wilkins
Download or read book The History of the Victoria Cross written by Philip Aveling Wilkins and published by . This book was released on 1904 with total page 476 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Book Synopsis The Complete Victoria Cross by : Kevin Brazier
Download or read book The Complete Victoria Cross written by Kevin Brazier and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2015-09-30 with total page 450 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This fully revised paperback edition of the complete chronological record of VC holders is an essential work of reference for every student of military history. All the British and Commonwealth servicemen who have been awarded the highest honour for exceptional acts of bravery and self-sacrifice are commemorated here. The first VCs awarded for the Crimean War and in the nineteenth-century colonial wars are described, as are the VCs awarded in the world wars of the twentieth century and the most recent VCs awarded during present-day conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The extraordinary exploits recounted in this fascinating book make unforgettable reading.
Download or read book Symbol of Courage written by Max Arthur and published by Pan Macmillan. This book was released on 2005 with total page 750 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Victoria Cross can only be awarded for most conspicuous bravery, or some daring or pre-eminent act of valour or self-sacrifice or extreme devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy. It has been awarded only 1,354 times since the Crimean War, the majority going to British and Commonwealth troops. Symbol of Courage vividly brings the story of the medal to life, giving a narrative history from the Crimean War to the recent war in Afghanistan. It includes many first-hand accounts of individual acts of bravery and describes what happened to the VC holders, some of whom found it was harder wearing the medal than winning it. It also gives a complete listing of every VC holder with details of the action in which they won the medal. Written by acclaimed military historian Max Arthur, this is a fascinating and comprehensive study that will appeal to everyone who is interested in military history.The Victoria Cross is Britains most famous medalit has a great emotional appeal and this book is full of stories of remarkable courage. Max Arthurs last book, Forgotten Voices of the Great War, sold over 84,000 copies in paperback for Ebury. The first book for many years to give a complete history of the medal. There are many Commonwealth holders so there should be a market outside the UK.
Book Synopsis The Victoria Cross by : Michael Madden
Download or read book The Victoria Cross written by Michael Madden and published by . This book was released on 2018-03-05 with total page 512 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is an ambitious endeavour to capture the history of Australia's pre-eminent award for acts of bravery in the face of the enemy and its highest military honour, the Victoria Cross (VC). Since 1856 when the award was created by Queen Victoria, 100 Australian servicemen have been recognised with the Cross. This book, however, is not a ......
Book Synopsis Victoria Cross Heroes of World War One by : Robert Hamilton
Download or read book Victoria Cross Heroes of World War One written by Robert Hamilton and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Victoria Cross had been in existence over 60 years when Archduke Franz Ferdinand fell to an assassins bullet, the event that triggered a Europe-wide call to arms in August 1914. It was an award that democratised military honours, for it was open to all ranks, the sole qualification being a display of conspicuous bravery in the field. The sovereign whose name it bore was personally responsible for the Crosss simple legend: For Valour. Forged, it is said, from cannons captured during the Crimean War, the medals were rather too plain for some tastes. The Times derided the VC as a dull, heavy, tasteless prize when the first investiture ceremony took place in Hyde Park on 26 June 1857. But its virtue, quite deliberately, lay in its very simplicity. It was the action for which the medal was given that should dazzle, not the decoration itself. The Victoria Cross became pre-eminent: first in line when pinned to a uniform or appended to a recipients name. Over 500 VCs had been awarded by the outbreak of the First World War. That figure more than doubled during the four-year-long conflict. Trench warfare, when the rival camps might be dug in less than 100 yards apart, afforded endless opportunities to show courage and mettle in the face of the enemy. Many were honoured for attacking feats, often taking the fight to the foe when the odds were stacked against survival. But hurling oneself into the fray was but one of valours many faces. Stretcher-bearers, medical staff, pipers and chaplains also showed the same strength in adversity, the same disregard for personal safety, the same willingness to exceed the call of duty. And, in over 180 instances, a readiness to make the ultimate sacrifice for King and Country. The call to act could come at any moment. In William McFadzeans case it came when the safety pins slipped from two grenades in a crowded trench just before the Somme battle. He flung himself onto the bombs, saving his comrades at the cost of his own life. For Rex Warneford it came in the skies over Ghent on 7 June 1915, when he became the first man to down a German airship in flight. He was thrown from his plane during a flight ten days later. For Jack Cornwell it came during the Battle of Jutland, when, mortally wounded, he stuck doggedly to his post awaiting orders. He was 16 years old. This book chronicles the inspiring, thrilling, humbling and deeply moving stories behind the 628 Victoria Crosses awarded during the course of the Great War. Without inscription, those 628 medals, like all the others cast by London jewelers, Hancocks over the past century and a half, would have no intrinsic worth. Once earned, inscribed and conferred, they assume inestimable value.
Book Synopsis The Victoria Cross in 100 Objects by : Brian Best
Download or read book The Victoria Cross in 100 Objects written by Brian Best and published by Frontline Books. This book was released on 2020-02-19 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It was the events of the Crimean War that changed everything. Until that time, those serving in Britain's army or navy had been expected to do their duty without thought of recognition or reward, particularly the men in the lower ranks. Fuelled by reports from the first ever war correspondents, which were read by an increasingly literate public, the mumblings of discontent over how the gallantry and valor of the ordinary man was recognized rapidly grew into a national outcry. Questions were asked in Parliament, answers were demanded by the press - why were the heroes of the Alma, Inkerman and the Charge of the Light Brigade not being officially acknowledged? Something had to be done. That something was the introduction of an award that would be of such prestige it would be sought by all men from the most junior private to a Field Marshal. It would be the highest possible award for valor in the face of the enemy and it bore the name of the Queen for whom the men fought - The Victoria Cross. Since the VC was instituted in January 1856, it has been awarded 1,358 times to 1,355 individual recipients. Those men were thrown into wars and campaigns around the globe, from the seas and skies around the UK to the deserts of Africa and the sweltering jungles of the Far East. The two world wars saw the most VCs awarded - 628 in the First and 182 in the Second. Only fifteen medals, eleven to members of the British Army, and four to the Australian Army, have been awarded since the Second World War. In this highly-illustrated work, the renowned Victoria Cross historian and author Brian Best examines the introduction and evolution of the VC, along with some of the fascinating individuals and remarkable acts of valor associated with it, through an intriguing collection of 100 objects.
Book Synopsis The Victoria Cross by : Ashali Varma
Download or read book The Victoria Cross written by Ashali Varma and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 243 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Memoirs of the author's father, Prem Bhagat, who was military officer in Africa during World War II and after in independent India and awarded the Victoria Cross for gallantry in World War II.
Download or read book Victoria's Cross written by Gary Mead and published by Atlantic Books (UK). This book was released on 2016-04-07 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This controversial book, by one of the UK's finest military historians, reveals the squalid truth about Britain's highest military honor, exposing a shameful history of racism, misogyny, and political expediency. When 25-year old Private Johnson Beharry won the Victoria Cross in 2005 for bravery under fire in Iraq, he was the first person to win Britain's highest military honor since the Falklands war in 1982 and the first living recipient since 1969, when two Australians were given the award for action in Vietnam. Born out of the squalor of the Crimean War in 1856 and the fragility of the monarchy at that time, the VC's prestige is such that it takes precedence over all other orders and medals in Britain. But while many books have been written about specific aspects of the VC and its recipients, none have asked why so many brave men who deserved the medal were denied it, and why no women have ever been awarded the VC, even though they are entitled. Military historian Gary Mead's vivid and balanced account of the VC's life and times exposes the hypocrisy behind one of the UK's last sacred cows, and explores its role as a barometer for the shifting sands of political and social change during the last 150 years.
Book Synopsis Extraordinary Heroes by : The Imperial War Museum
Download or read book Extraordinary Heroes written by The Imperial War Museum and published by Osprey Publishing. This book was released on 2010-11-23 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Victoria and George Crosses are the highest military and civil decorations of the United Kingdom, awarded for gallantry. The Victoria Cross, introduced in 1856, is awarded to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries for valour in the face of the enemy, while the George Cross was introduced during World War II so that civilians could also be awarded for acts of heroism, or conspicuous courage in circumstances of extreme danger. There have been 1,356 Victoria Crosses awarded, and there have been 404 recipients of the George Cross since 1940. The Imperial War Museum is opening the Lord Ashcroft Gallery in November 2010 to showcase not only their large collection of Victoria and George crosses, but also Lord Ashcroft's collection, which he has loaned to the Museum for 10 years. The gallery will therefore contain the largest collection of VCs and GCs in the world. The museum envisages around 150,000 visitors a year. This fully illustrated book contains the stories of over 80 recipients: a mixture of individuals - including men, women and children from different countries - who performed their acts of heroism across the last century and a half.
Book Synopsis Frederick Whirlpool VC by : Alan Leek
Download or read book Frederick Whirlpool VC written by Alan Leek and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2018-09-05 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A riveting historical mystery that sweeps four continents and fills a void in the Victoria Cross story." Frederick Whirlpool’s Victoria Cross is displayed near the entrance to the Hall of Valour at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra. It was the first VC pinned to an Australian uniform, yet almost nothing was known about its enigmatic recipient. Two acts of valour during the Indian Mutiny, won him the Victoria Cross, but 17 severe sword wounds ended his career. Arriving in Victoria in 1859, he became a volunteer rifleman and school teacher. His VC was presented in Melbourne in 1861. He was an applicant to join the Victoria Police, but a corrupt recruitment process and unsolicited political interference prevented it. Repulsed by fame, he fled and hid his cross from the world. Fragments of his story were known, but since 1895, they have been tainted by error, guesswork and in one recent British work, pure fantasy. This work solves an old mystery. It reveals his true identity and early life in Ireland before joining the East India Company Army. To understand his service, the Central Indian campaign under Sir Hugh Rose, is examined in some detail, something that has not been done before. The real horrors of that campaign are revealed to show their devastating impact on this sensitive man. Rich sources reveal his anguished story. Humphrey James’ reasons for changing his identity and leaving his family forever, are unearthed. His life in Australia is revealed, showing his fall, firstly from policing and then teaching, in NSW. He undoubtedly struggled with his demons and believed that he was destined for eternal damnation. The passage of his Victoria Cross, after his death was unknown before it appeared on the market in 1927. Its movements and those of his Indian Mutiny medal with its Central India clasp, are now revealed’ This fascinating story fills huge gaps in the narrative of this ordinary man, whose life is deserving of factual interpretation. It is a story of heroism, suffering and failure, but the forgotten man will triumph in its telling. His sad life ended as a recluse in 1899, and he was buried in an unmarked grave in Windsor. The only mourner who attended his funeral left a thread, which has allowed painstaking research to uncover the true story of this sad and purposefully enigmatic hero.
Download or read book Donald Dean VC written by T. E. Crowdy and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2011-03-23 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Donald Dean lied about his age to enlist in the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment and serve on the Western Front, where he worked his way up from Private to acting Captain. It was in the last weeks of the war, late in September 1918, that he won his VC for leading a platoon in the determined defense of a recently captured and isolated trench against repeated German counterattacks. In one of these attacks, the Germans actually broke into the trench, forcing Dean to break off a radio call for artillery support with the words 'The Germans are here, goodbye!' Refusing to be overrun, he personally killed four of the Germans before they were finally evicted. Dean also served in World War II, witnessing the fall of France in 1940 and claiming to be the last Brit to get out of Boulogne. His frank account of the evacuation challenges some cherished conceptions and is very critical of the conduct of the Irish Guards in particular. He went on to fight in Madagascar, Sicilya and the Italian mainland. Donald Dean died in 1985.Military historian Terry Crowdy has edited Dean's letters and diaries, never previously published, adding additional notes and material from official reports to give the reader context. The result is a moving, often amusing and inspiring portrait of a little-known hero of two world wars.
Book Synopsis The Victoria Cross Wars by : Brian Best
Download or read book The Victoria Cross Wars written by Brian Best and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2017-03-30 with total page 599 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The British Empire at its height stretched around the globe. From Asia to the Americas, scores of countries were conquered or assimilated into the greatest commonwealth of nations in history. Many of these countries were won, and held, at the point of the bayonet, and British soldiers and sailors fought long and hard campaigns in deserts, mountains and jungles to maintain and expand the Empire. Fighting, though, means bloodshed; it also means bravery. Victoria Crosses were awarded in operations against Persia, Abyssinia and China, in New Zealand, Burma and Sudan, in the Perak War, the Andaman Islands Expedition and the Mashona Rebellion to name but a few of the forty-four different campaigns of the colonial era.The Victoria Cross Wars explains Britains involvement in these little-known and forgotten campaigns and details the battles and engagements that resulted in the granting of the most highly regarded award for valor in the face of the enemy. The greater conflicts of the twentieth century receive due treatment as do more recent operations in the troubled parts of the world.A total of 1,358 VCs have been awarded since the cross of valor was first instituted in 1855, the latest of which was announced in February 2015. The stories behind the awarding of these medals have been repeated in countless anthologies but The Victoria Cross Wars explains not just what the men did, but why they were there and what they were fighting for.
Book Synopsis Irish Winners of the Victoria Cross by : Richard Doherty
Download or read book Irish Winners of the Victoria Cross written by Richard Doherty and published by Four Courts Press. This book was released on 2000 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Military historians Doherty and Truesdale tell the personal stories of the many Irish winners of the prestigious medal since its inception in 1856. They include men from all levels of society from poor farmers to lords and generals. Their account is chronological, from the Crimean War through World War II. They also list the winners alphabetically, discuss rejected recommendations and forfeited awards, and include poems about two winners. Distributed in the US by ISBS. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Download or read book For Valour written by Craig Blanch and published by NewSouth. This book was released on 2019-02 with total page 512 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For Valour tells the remarkable stories of the 100 Australians who have been awarded the Victoria Cross for exceptional acts of bravery and self-sacrifice in battle. From Captain Neville Howse of the New South Wales Army Medical Corps in 1900 to Corporal Cameron Baird of the 2nd Commando Regiment in 2013, heroic actions in the Boer War appear alongside those from the First World War, North Russia, the Second World War, Vietnam and Afghanistan. Vivid descriptions of events on the battlefield are matched with biographical profiles of each of the recipients to provide insights into their lives outside wartime service. With a foreword from Daniel Keighran VC, new archival research and striking photographs and artworks from the Australian War Memorial, For Valour commemorates the servicemen who have been awarded the military's highest honour.
Book Synopsis The evolution of the Victoria Cross by : Michael J. Crook
Download or read book The evolution of the Victoria Cross written by Michael J. Crook and published by . This book was released on 1975 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: