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History
Of The Victoria Cross - Page 4 |
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Authority and Privileges |
As the highest award for valour of the United
Kingdom, the Victoria Cross is always the first award to be presented
at an investiture, even before knighthoods, as was shown at the
investiture of Johnson Beharry who received his medal before General
Sir Mike Jackson. Due to its status the VC is always the first medal
worn in a row of medals and it always appears first in post-nominal
letters before any other awards or honours. Similar acts of extreme
valour that do not take place in the face of the enemy are honoured
with the George Cross which has equal precedence but is awarded
second due to fact that the GC is newer.
There is a widespread erroneous myth that it is
statutory for "all ranks to salute a bearer of the Victoria
Cross." There is no official requirement that appears in the
official Warrant of the VC, nor in Queen's Regulations and Orders
but tradition dictates that this occurs and as such the Chiefs of
Staff will salute a Private awarded a VC or GC. |
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Annuity |
The original warrant stated that NCOs and private
soldiers or seamen on the Victoria Cross Register were entitled
to a £10 per annum annuity. In 1898, Queen Victoria raised the pension
to £50 for those that could not earn a livelihood, be it from old
age or infirmity. Today holders of the Victoria Cross or George
Cross are entitled to an annuity, the amount of which is determined
by the awarding government. Since 2002, the annuity paid by the
British government is £1,495 per year. As of January 2005, under
the Canadian Gallantry Awards Order, members of the Canadian Forces
or people who joined the British forces before 31 March 1949 while
domiciled in Canada or Newfoundland receive $3,000 per year. The
Australian Government provides the two surviving Australian recipients
a Victoria Cross Allowance under Subsection 103.4 of the Veterans'
Entitlements Act 1986. In January 2006 the amount was $A3,230 per
year which is indexed annually in line with Australian Consumer
Price Index increases. |
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| Forfeited Victoria Crosses |
The original Royal Warrant involved an expulsion
clause that allowed for a recipient's name to be erased from the
official register in certain wholly discreditable circumstances,
and his pension cancelled. King George V though felt very strongly
that the decoration should never be forfeited and in a letter to
his Private Secretary, Lord Stamfordham, on 26 July 1920, his views
are forcibly expressed:
"The King feels so strongly that, no matter
the crime committed by anyone on whom the VC has been conferred,
the decoration should not be forfeited. Even were a VC to be sentenced
to be hanged for murder, he should be allowed to wear his VC on
the gallows."
There were only eight men who forfeited their Victoria
Crosses before the rules were changed in July 1920. Following the
rule change, their names were re-listed. The power to cancel and
restore awards is still included in the Victoria Cross warrant but
none has been forfeited since 1908.
The eight men were:
Valentine Bambrick
James Collis
Frederick Corbett
Edward St John Daniel
Thomas Lane
James McGuire
Michael Murphy
George Ravenhill
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