Photos from the Victoria and George Cross association
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/5116084.stm
Victoria Cross holders honoured
Eight of the 12 surviving VC holders were at the service
The Prince of Wales has paid his respects to Victoria Cross holders to mark the 150th anniversary of the prestigious bravery medal.
More than 2,000 people gathered for the service at Westminster Abbey.
The service commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Victoria Cross and George Cross Association, of which the prince is president.
Also attending was Private Johnson Beharry, the first person to be awarded the VC in more than two decades.
'Courage and respect'
The Reverend Robert Wright, sub-dean of Westminster Abbey, paid tribute to the medal-holders, saying: "All courage deserves respect. Great courage deserves great respect.
"It is the especial distinction of the men and women who won either of these awards that they performed their deeds of valour not to serve their own ends but for the sake of their country and of those whom they served."
He added: "They risked and often sacrificed their lives so that others might live and continue to enjoy the privilege of loving in a world where freedom and justice might prevail."
L/Cpl Chris Finney is the youngest to be awarded the George Cross
Private Beharry, who is 26 and serves in the 1st Battalion, Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment, twice saved the lives of countless colleagues while under enemy fire in Iraq in May 2004.
He guided a column of troops through a mile of enemy ground to drop off wounded comrades - at great risk to his own safety.
Just weeks later, his vehicle was hit by an rocket-propelled grenade round. Despite a severe head wound, he managed to reverse his warrior to safety. He was awarded the VC last year.
Medals paraded
The first Victoria Cross was awarded to Lt Charles Lucas for his action in the Baltic in June 1854.
The first George Cross was awarded to Thomas Alderson for his action when an air raid warden in the Blitz in September 1940.
Both medals will be carried through the Abbey by the men's direct descendants.
The George Cross is the highest medal for bravery with the enemy not present.
L/Cpl Chris Finney, who was awarded the George Cross for his bravery in Iraq in 2003, said he was "in awe" at his fellow medal holders.
He told BBC News they were "just fantastic people".
L/Cpl Finney, thought to be the youngest military recipient of the medal, was awarded it aged just 19 after being wounded as he risked his life to drag a fellow soldier from a tank as it came under fire from US planes in a "friendly-fire" incident.
But he said: "Speak to anybody that holds it and I'm pretty sure they'll all tell you that they probably don't deserve it, but I specially don't think I do.
He added: "As far as I'm concerned, my friend was there and I helped him, that's not anything that you shouldn't do anyway."
The prince was joined by the Duchess of Cornwall and the couple will also attend a lunchtime reception to mark the occasion at St James's Square gardens.
He will lay a wreath at the VC and GC Memorial in the Abbey.
On Wednesday, the Queen is holding a reception at Windsor Castle to mark the 150th anniversary of the VC.
Victoria Cross holders honoured
Eight of the 12 surviving VC holders were at the service
The Prince of Wales has paid his respects to Victoria Cross holders to mark the 150th anniversary of the prestigious bravery medal.
More than 2,000 people gathered for the service at Westminster Abbey.
The service commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Victoria Cross and George Cross Association, of which the prince is president.
Also attending was Private Johnson Beharry, the first person to be awarded the VC in more than two decades.
'Courage and respect'
The Reverend Robert Wright, sub-dean of Westminster Abbey, paid tribute to the medal-holders, saying: "All courage deserves respect. Great courage deserves great respect.
"It is the especial distinction of the men and women who won either of these awards that they performed their deeds of valour not to serve their own ends but for the sake of their country and of those whom they served."
He added: "They risked and often sacrificed their lives so that others might live and continue to enjoy the privilege of loving in a world where freedom and justice might prevail."
L/Cpl Chris Finney is the youngest to be awarded the George Cross
Private Beharry, who is 26 and serves in the 1st Battalion, Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment, twice saved the lives of countless colleagues while under enemy fire in Iraq in May 2004.
He guided a column of troops through a mile of enemy ground to drop off wounded comrades - at great risk to his own safety.
Just weeks later, his vehicle was hit by an rocket-propelled grenade round. Despite a severe head wound, he managed to reverse his warrior to safety. He was awarded the VC last year.
Medals paraded
The first Victoria Cross was awarded to Lt Charles Lucas for his action in the Baltic in June 1854.
The first George Cross was awarded to Thomas Alderson for his action when an air raid warden in the Blitz in September 1940.
Both medals will be carried through the Abbey by the men's direct descendants.
The George Cross is the highest medal for bravery with the enemy not present.
L/Cpl Chris Finney, who was awarded the George Cross for his bravery in Iraq in 2003, said he was "in awe" at his fellow medal holders.
He told BBC News they were "just fantastic people".
L/Cpl Finney, thought to be the youngest military recipient of the medal, was awarded it aged just 19 after being wounded as he risked his life to drag a fellow soldier from a tank as it came under fire from US planes in a "friendly-fire" incident.
But he said: "Speak to anybody that holds it and I'm pretty sure they'll all tell you that they probably don't deserve it, but I specially don't think I do.
He added: "As far as I'm concerned, my friend was there and I helped him, that's not anything that you shouldn't do anyway."
The prince was joined by the Duchess of Cornwall and the couple will also attend a lunchtime reception to mark the occasion at St James's Square gardens.
He will lay a wreath at the VC and GC Memorial in the Abbey.
On Wednesday, the Queen is holding a reception at Windsor Castle to mark the 150th anniversary of the VC.
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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2244429,00.html
Britain
The Times June 27, 2006
Plain medal still honours rare mettle, 150 years on
By Michael Evans, Defence Editor
THEY were the youngest ones there but the respect and awe for Private Johnson Beharry and Lance Corporal Christopher Finney was none the less undiminished.
The pair were among Britain’s most courageous men and women who gathered at Westminster Abbey yesterday to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Victoria Cross and the 50th anniversary of the Victoria Cross and George Cross Association.
The service was in honour of their outstanding courage but, as the Bishop of London, Dr Richard Chartres, put it, acts of selfless gallantry were often performed by ordinary people. He said that the medal instituted by Queen Victoria in January 1856 and described by The Times as “plain” suited “the modesty that often accompanies great courage”.
The service and the reception at St James’s Square were attended by 8 of the surviving holders of the VC and 22 of the 24 surviving holders of the GC. They were joined by the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall and families of medal holders who had died or been killed in action.
Most holders wore suits and some came in wheelchairs, including Captain Peter Norton, GC, who lost a leg and an arm in an explosion near Baghdad last year. Only Private Beharry VC, 26, and Lance Corporal Finney GC, 22, were in uniform.
The old boys were happy that there were new ones still joining their unique and dwindling club and, to a man, spoke in awe of Private Beharry and Lance-Corporal Finney. “He’s the new one, such a sweet guy,” Lieutenant-Commander Ian Fraser, VC, said of Private Beharry. Commander Fraser, now 85, was the man who slid his midget submarine under the Japanese cruiser, Takao, in 1945, fixed limpet mines to the bottom of the ship and was then almost crushed underneath as the tide changed.
Lance-Corporal Finney said: “These guys are amazing. We have a good laugh when we meet for dinner. Me and Johnson (Beharry) and Pete Norton have all been made welcome.”
Private Beharry said: “When we all meet, I don’t ask what they did (to get the VC) and they don’t ask what I did, but they are all great people and they give me good ideas about how to deal with things.” He admitted that winning the VC had changed his life.
Private Beharry and Lance Corporal Finney carried a wreath down the aisle of the Abbey and handed it to the Prince, who laid it on the VC, GC memorial. At the reception in St James’s Square, the Prince met all the VC and GC holders.
“Circumstances may change, technology may change, but the capacity for some very rare human beings to act in an utterly exceptional and selfless way remains unchanged by the passage of time,” he said in an address to the 1,600 guests.
NONE BUT THE BRAVE: THE SURVIVING 12
Private Johnson Beharry, of the 1st Battalion The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment, who saved the lives of 30 comrades in two individual acts of heroism in al-Amarah, southern Iraq, in May and June 2004
Havildar Bhan Bhagta Gurung, of the 2nd Gurkha Rifles, who cleared four enemy foxholes on his own in Burma in March 1945
Flight Lieutenant John Cruickshank, of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, No 210 Squadron, who attacked a German U-boat in July 1944, while piloting a Catalina flying boat, persisting with the assault despite being seriously wounded.
Lieutenant-Commander Ian Fraser, of the Royal Naval Reserve, who commanded a midget submarine in a daring raid on the Japanese cruiser Takao in July 1945
Private Edward Kenna, of the 2/4th Battalion Australian Imperial Force, who, under fire, destroyed a Japanese machinegun post in New Guinea in May 1945
Havildar Lachhiman Gurung, of the 8th Gurkha Rifles, who single-handedly fought off wave after wave of enemy attacks on his position in Burma in May 1944
Warrant Officer Class 2 Keith Payne, of the Royal Australian Infantry Regiment, who defended his men and rescued wounded while under fierce attack by North Vietnamese soldiers during the Vietnam War in May 1969
Captain Rambahadur Limbu, of the 10th Princess Mary’s Own Gurkha Rifles, who saved his men during an enemy attack in Sarawak, Malaysia, in November 1965
Private William Speakman-Pitts, of The Black Watch, who led a grenade charge against the enemy in the Korean War in November 1951
Lieutenant Tulbahadur Pun, of the 6th Gurkha Rifles, who charged a Japanese position on his own in June 1944 in Burma
Lieutenant Sir Tasker Watkins, of The Welch Regiment, who charged two enemy posts in August 1944
Lieutenant-Colonel Eric Wilson, of The East Surrey Regiment, attached to the Somaliland Camel Corps, who managed to beat off an enemy attack in Somaliland in August 1940
Britain
The Times June 27, 2006
Plain medal still honours rare mettle, 150 years on
By Michael Evans, Defence Editor
THEY were the youngest ones there but the respect and awe for Private Johnson Beharry and Lance Corporal Christopher Finney was none the less undiminished.
The pair were among Britain’s most courageous men and women who gathered at Westminster Abbey yesterday to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Victoria Cross and the 50th anniversary of the Victoria Cross and George Cross Association.
The service was in honour of their outstanding courage but, as the Bishop of London, Dr Richard Chartres, put it, acts of selfless gallantry were often performed by ordinary people. He said that the medal instituted by Queen Victoria in January 1856 and described by The Times as “plain” suited “the modesty that often accompanies great courage”.
The service and the reception at St James’s Square were attended by 8 of the surviving holders of the VC and 22 of the 24 surviving holders of the GC. They were joined by the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall and families of medal holders who had died or been killed in action.
Most holders wore suits and some came in wheelchairs, including Captain Peter Norton, GC, who lost a leg and an arm in an explosion near Baghdad last year. Only Private Beharry VC, 26, and Lance Corporal Finney GC, 22, were in uniform.
The old boys were happy that there were new ones still joining their unique and dwindling club and, to a man, spoke in awe of Private Beharry and Lance-Corporal Finney. “He’s the new one, such a sweet guy,” Lieutenant-Commander Ian Fraser, VC, said of Private Beharry. Commander Fraser, now 85, was the man who slid his midget submarine under the Japanese cruiser, Takao, in 1945, fixed limpet mines to the bottom of the ship and was then almost crushed underneath as the tide changed.
Lance-Corporal Finney said: “These guys are amazing. We have a good laugh when we meet for dinner. Me and Johnson (Beharry) and Pete Norton have all been made welcome.”
Private Beharry said: “When we all meet, I don’t ask what they did (to get the VC) and they don’t ask what I did, but they are all great people and they give me good ideas about how to deal with things.” He admitted that winning the VC had changed his life.
Private Beharry and Lance Corporal Finney carried a wreath down the aisle of the Abbey and handed it to the Prince, who laid it on the VC, GC memorial. At the reception in St James’s Square, the Prince met all the VC and GC holders.
“Circumstances may change, technology may change, but the capacity for some very rare human beings to act in an utterly exceptional and selfless way remains unchanged by the passage of time,” he said in an address to the 1,600 guests.
NONE BUT THE BRAVE: THE SURVIVING 12
Private Johnson Beharry, of the 1st Battalion The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment, who saved the lives of 30 comrades in two individual acts of heroism in al-Amarah, southern Iraq, in May and June 2004
Havildar Bhan Bhagta Gurung, of the 2nd Gurkha Rifles, who cleared four enemy foxholes on his own in Burma in March 1945
Flight Lieutenant John Cruickshank, of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, No 210 Squadron, who attacked a German U-boat in July 1944, while piloting a Catalina flying boat, persisting with the assault despite being seriously wounded.
Lieutenant-Commander Ian Fraser, of the Royal Naval Reserve, who commanded a midget submarine in a daring raid on the Japanese cruiser Takao in July 1945
Private Edward Kenna, of the 2/4th Battalion Australian Imperial Force, who, under fire, destroyed a Japanese machinegun post in New Guinea in May 1945
Havildar Lachhiman Gurung, of the 8th Gurkha Rifles, who single-handedly fought off wave after wave of enemy attacks on his position in Burma in May 1944
Warrant Officer Class 2 Keith Payne, of the Royal Australian Infantry Regiment, who defended his men and rescued wounded while under fierce attack by North Vietnamese soldiers during the Vietnam War in May 1969
Captain Rambahadur Limbu, of the 10th Princess Mary’s Own Gurkha Rifles, who saved his men during an enemy attack in Sarawak, Malaysia, in November 1965
Private William Speakman-Pitts, of The Black Watch, who led a grenade charge against the enemy in the Korean War in November 1951
Lieutenant Tulbahadur Pun, of the 6th Gurkha Rifles, who charged a Japanese position on his own in June 1944 in Burma
Lieutenant Sir Tasker Watkins, of The Welch Regiment, who charged two enemy posts in August 1944
Lieutenant-Colonel Eric Wilson, of The East Surrey Regiment, attached to the Somaliland Camel Corps, who managed to beat off an enemy attack in Somaliland in August 1940
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xavier said:
WO2 Keith Payne was there (he is in at least one of the pics). He is the only living VC from Vietnam, twoo of them were posthumous (Maj. Badcoe and WO2 Wheatley), the other (WO2 Simpson) died quite a while ago.
One of the World War 2 Gurkhas was there too.
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Interesting question from The Guardian of all papers.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/military/story/0,,1805900,00.html
How many people hold the Victoria Cross?
Leo Benedictus
Monday June 26, 2006
The Guardian
That's a trick question. There are 1,352, including the unknown soldier in Arlington Cemetery. However, a total of 1,355 VCs have been awarded, as three people have had it twice - a distinction known as "VC and Bar", which means you are about as brave as it is possible to be without winning a war on your own. Just 12 VC holders are still alive, each of whom also receives £1,495 a year.
Today, in Westminster Abbey, the 150th anniversary of the medal's creation is being marked, on what is in fact the 149th anniversary of the day Queen Victoria first presented it. Despite spearing one of the recipients with the pin, Victoria deserves credit for her role in creating the medal. It was she who suggested the noble inscription "for valour" (instead of "for the brave"), and it was her husband Albert's idea to call it a cross, not "the Military Order of Victoria".
The medal is a way of recognising any member of the Commonwealth armed forces for bravery performed "in the presence of the enemy". If you're brave somewhere else, you have to settle with the George Cross. Originally, VCs had to be living, although posthumous awards were allowed from 1905. Another qualification was that you had to be white, although the empire did eventually concede, with the decoration of Khudadad Khan in 1914, that even colonials could be brave.
In an inspired poetic gesture, all VCs are cast by melting down bronze knobs removed from two Chinese cannons taken from the Russians at Sebastopol during the Crimean war. Apparently, there is enough of this bronze remaining for only around 85 more medals, although at the present rate that may last a while; just 12 Victoria Crosses have been awarded since the end of the second world war. When Private Johnson Beharry won a VC last April he was its first recipient since 1982, and the first living one since 1969.
Beharry was given the award for rescuing his comrades from ambushes in Iraq, under fire, twice. "I don't get the chance to present this very often," the Queen told him as she attached it to his chest, sparing him Victoria's pin treatment on this occasion.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/military/story/0,,1805900,00.html
How many people hold the Victoria Cross?
Leo Benedictus
Monday June 26, 2006
The Guardian
That's a trick question. There are 1,352, including the unknown soldier in Arlington Cemetery. However, a total of 1,355 VCs have been awarded, as three people have had it twice - a distinction known as "VC and Bar", which means you are about as brave as it is possible to be without winning a war on your own. Just 12 VC holders are still alive, each of whom also receives £1,495 a year.
Today, in Westminster Abbey, the 150th anniversary of the medal's creation is being marked, on what is in fact the 149th anniversary of the day Queen Victoria first presented it. Despite spearing one of the recipients with the pin, Victoria deserves credit for her role in creating the medal. It was she who suggested the noble inscription "for valour" (instead of "for the brave"), and it was her husband Albert's idea to call it a cross, not "the Military Order of Victoria".
The medal is a way of recognising any member of the Commonwealth armed forces for bravery performed "in the presence of the enemy". If you're brave somewhere else, you have to settle with the George Cross. Originally, VCs had to be living, although posthumous awards were allowed from 1905. Another qualification was that you had to be white, although the empire did eventually concede, with the decoration of Khudadad Khan in 1914, that even colonials could be brave.
In an inspired poetic gesture, all VCs are cast by melting down bronze knobs removed from two Chinese cannons taken from the Russians at Sebastopol during the Crimean war. Apparently, there is enough of this bronze remaining for only around 85 more medals, although at the present rate that may last a while; just 12 Victoria Crosses have been awarded since the end of the second world war. When Private Johnson Beharry won a VC last April he was its first recipient since 1982, and the first living one since 1969.
Beharry was given the award for rescuing his comrades from ambushes in Iraq, under fire, twice. "I don't get the chance to present this very often," the Queen told him as she attached it to his chest, sparing him Victoria's pin treatment on this occasion.
