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On this day in 1856 The Victoria Cross,

• Message 1.Β 

  Posted by bandick (U14360315) on Saturday, 29th January 2011

  Britain's highest military decoration for gallantry is created by royal warrant.
  
  Has anyone been awarded this more than once…
  
  It would be wrong to judge one man’s courage above that of another, but what of the stories behind the winning of this medal stands out as slightly more remarkable than the others.
  
  How many recipients have there been, and has there been a winner in every conflict since its creation.
  
  What arm of the forces has the most recipients?
  
  

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• Message 2

  , in reply to message 1.

  Posted by LongWeekend (U3023428) on Saturday, 29th January 2011

  bandick
  
  
  
  Three people have received the WC twice; two doctors and one Kiwi, Charles Upham, who is the only combattant soldier to have received it twice. I believe more VCs have been awarded for humane acts under fire (rescuing wounded etc) than for acts of combat.
  
  I don't know which service has had the most awards of the Victoria Cross, and I am not sure it is a useful statistic. For instance, naval warfare is such that the circumstances in which a VC might be awarded are less than for the other two services.
  
  Furthermore, in1940 the RAF decided the circumstances of air combat were such that VCs would not be recommended for Fighter Command (they had been awarded for air combat in WWI), so Flt Lt Eric Nicholson was the only Fighter Command VC of the war. AVM Bennett of the Pathfinder Force made an arrangement by which PFF aircrew were given a one-step promotion in rank while with PFF (which is how Group Captains came to be commanding PFF squadrons, and Wing Commanders Flights), but that they would not be recommended for awards. So two important combattant parts of the RAF were excluded.
  
  It is probably better to take each VC on the merits of the individual who received it.
  
  Cheers
  
  LW

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• Message 3

  , in reply to message 1.

  Posted by Sambista (U4068266) on Saturday, 29th January 2011

  Three people have been awarded the VC and Bar, the bar representing a second award of the VC. They are: Noel Chavasse and Arthur Martin-Leake, both doctors in the Royal Army Medical Corps, for rescuing wounded under fire; and New Zealander Charles Upham, an infantryman, for combat actions.[64] Upham remains the only combatant soldier to have received a VC and Bar. An Irishman, Surgeon General William Manley, remains the sole recipient of both the Victoria Cross and the Iron Cross.
  

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• Message 4

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  Posted by Vizzer aka U_numbers (U2011621) on Saturday, 29th January 2011

  That's interesting point Ur-Lugal regarding William Manley.
  
  I have to say that I'd never heard of him. I've done some brief 'online research' and it's thrown up some mixed results. Some websites mention his VC (won during 1864 Tauranga Campaign of the Maori Wars) such as this Gloucestershire one:
  
  
  
  and this New Zealand veterans one:
  
  
  
  Intriguingly neither website mentions the Iron Cross. The following site (also New Zealand), however, does mention Manley's being granted Prussian and Bavarian honours (including the Iron Cross) for services during the Franco-Prussian War 1870-1:
  
  
  
  Some amazing details there. For example I didn't know that there was a 'British Ambulance' active during the Franco-Prussian War. These sorts of little nuggets of information are genuine historical gold. It' sad, therefore, that some UK and Commonwealth institutions seem quite sheepish about mentioning the Iron Cross in the same breath as the 'holy' VC. At any rate Manley's achievment is a remarkable double and certainly worthy of note.

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• Message 5

  , in reply to message 4.

  Posted by LongWeekend (U3023428) on Saturday, 29th January 2011

  Vizzer
  
  The Iron Cross could be awarded for distinguished service as well as gallantry, so was more akin to the Distinguished Service Order than the Victoria Cross, which is specifically for valour "in the face of the enemy".
  
  Thus Manley's Iron Cross 2nd Class, which was for his service in operating his ambulance, was not really equivalent to his VC, so I can understand it not being mentioned in every reference.
  
  I agree the Franco-Prussian War isn't given the prominence it deserves, and the the attitudes of members of the non-combattant nations not really understood. British public opinion was initially pro-German, as France was recognised as being the country that wanted a war. Opinion only changed when the German attitude in vistory was seen as oppressive (and the declaration of a unified German Empire in occupied Versailles recognised as a threat).
  
  Bismark himself was accompanied on campaign by Gen Phil Sheridan, US Army, as an observer. Sheridan advised Bismark, based on Civil War experience, to treat the defeated French harshly.
  
  LW

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