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Victoria Cross And George Cross Association
The Victoria Cross and George Cross Association is made up of holders of the Victoria Cross (VC), Britain's highest military award for bravery in the field, and the George Cross (GC), the equivalent award for civilians and military personnel who have displayed conspicuous bravery not in the face of the enemy. Holders of these awards receive a civil pension and attend reunions which receive much coverage in the national press. Membership is dwindling due to the increasing age of the VC and GC recipients and the tendency until recently of the government to award these medals posthumously. Canon William Lummis was the chaplain to the Association owing to his extensive research into the Victoria Cross. The Victoria Cross and George Cross Association is Headquartered in London at Horse Guards Parade, Whitehall SW1A 2AX, United Kingdom. Officers of the VC and GC Association Patron * Queen Elizabeth II, 1957-2022. President * Sir Winston Churchill , 1959–1965. * Brigadier Sir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously awarded by countries of the Commonwealth of Nations, most of which have established their own honours systems and no longer recommend British honours. It may be awarded to a person of any military rank in any service and to civilians under military command. No civilian has received the award since 1879. Since the first awards were presented by Queen Victoria in 1857, two-thirds of all awards have been personally presented by the British monarch. The investitures are usually held at Buckingham Palace. The VC was introduced on 29 January 1856 by Queen Victoria to honour acts of valour during the Crimean War. Since then, the medal has been awarded 1,358 times to 1,355 individual recipients. Only 15 medals, of which 11 to members of the Bri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Sidney, 1st Viscount De L'Isle
William Philip Sidney, 1st Viscount De L'Isle, (23 May 1909 – 5 April 1991), known as Lord De L'Isle and Dudley between 1945 and 1956, was a British Army officer, politician and Victoria Cross recipient who served as the 15th Governor-General of Australia, in office from 1961 to 1965. He was the last non-Australian to hold the position. Sidney was born into an aristocratic family and attended Eton College before going on to Magdalene College, Cambridge. He became a chartered accountant, but also joined the Territorial Army. During the Second World War, Sidney served with the Grenadier Guards in France and Italy; he was awarded the Victoria Cross in 1944 for his actions in the Battle of Anzio. He was elected to the House of Commons later that year, as a member of the Conservative Party. In 1945, Sidney succeeded his father as Baron De L'Isle and Dudley, consequently being elevated to the House of Lords. He served as Secretary of State for Air from 1951 to 1955, under Wins ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Lummis
Canon William Murrell Lummis MC (4 June 1886 – 2 November 1985) was a British military historian most noted for the research he conducted on the Victoria Cross, the Charge of the Light Brigade, and Rorke's Drift.Roy Dutton''Forgotten Heroes: The Charge of the Light Brigade'' InfoDial Ltd, (2007) - Google Books pg. 4 Military career Born in Coddenham, Suffolk, Lummis was the oldest of seven children born to George Murrell Lummis (1860–1912) and Louisa Sparrow (1854–1933). After leaving school at the age of 14, Lummis worked as a clerk in a Magistrates' Clerk's Office in his hometown of Coddenham before enlisting, aged 18, in the 11th Hussars as a trooper in 1904."Obituary: Canon W. M. Lummis", ''The Times'', 19 November 1985; pg. 18; Issue 62299; col G By 1911 he was a Lance Sergeant and became responsible, amongst other duties, for the editing of the 11th Hussars' regimental journal. At that time he met the survivors of the Charge of the Light Brigade who had gat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canon (priest)
A canon (from the Latin , itself derived from the Greek , , "relating to a rule", "regular") is a member of certain bodies in subject to an ecclesiastical rule. Originally, a canon was a cleric living with others in a clergy house or, later, in one of the houses within the precinct of or close to a cathedral or other major church and conducting his life according to the customary discipline or rules of the church. This way of life grew common (and is first documented) in the 8th century AD. In the 11th century, some churches required clergy thus living together to adopt the rule first proposed by Saint Augustine that they renounce private wealth. Those who embraced this change were known as Augustinians or Canons Regular, whilst those who did not were known as secular canons. Secular canons Latin Church In the Latin Church, the members of the chapter of a cathedral (cathedral chapter) or of a collegiate church (so-called after their chapter) are canons. Depending on the t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christopher Finney
Christopher Finney, (born 23 May 1984) is a former British soldier of the Blues and Royals who was awarded the George Cross for bravery under friendly fire during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Finney grew up in Marple, near Stockport, before moving to Dorset. He joined the British Army in September 2000. His first operational deployment came in the Iraq War. On 28 March 2003, the Scimitar armoured vehicle he was driving came under attack from a pair of American ground attack aircraft in a friendly fire incident. Finney rescued several of his comrades despite being hit by the attacking aircraft. For his valour he was awarded the George Cross: the highest award for acts of conspicuous gallantry performed when not in the face of the enemy, becoming the youngest serviceman in the British Armed Forces to receive it. Early life Finney grew up in Marple, near Stockport, later moving to Wimborne, Dorset. Army career Finney joined the British Army in September 2000, at the age of 15 years ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Norton (GC)
Major Peter Allen Norton, GC (born 10 December 1962) is a retired ammunition technical officer with the British Army's Royal Logistic Corps who was awarded the George Cross for his service in Iraq. Early life Norton was born in Edmonton, London, but grew up in Margate, Kent. Military career Norton joined the Royal Army Ordnance Corps (which later amalgamated into the Royal Logistic Corps) as a private in 1983. He reached the rank of warrant officer class 1 and was appointed a conductor, the most senior non-commissioned appointment in the British Army, before being commissioned as a captain on 8 July 2002. George Cross Norton deployed to Iraq in 2005, where he was second-in-command of the American Combined Explosives Exploitation Cell (CEXC) based in the outskirts of Baghdad. Going to the aid of a United States Army patrol that had been attacked by an improvised explosive device (IED) on 24 July 2005, he was checking for the presence of further devices when a secondary ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jim Beaton
James Wallace Beaton, GC, CVO (born 17 February 1943) is a retired British police officer who was awarded the George Cross, Britain's highest gallantry award for civilians. He was Queen's Police Officer from 1983 to 1992. Beaton received the George Cross in 1974 for protecting Princess Anne from the would-be kidnapper Ian Ball during an attack on The Mall, London. He received the Director's Honor Award of the United States Secret Service in the same year. He was made an LVO in 1987 and promoted to CVO in 1992. In March 1973, Beaton was transferred to the Royalty Protection Squad, A Division, and from 14 November served as a Personal Protection Officer to Princess Anne. He was given the number 11 in the small team responsible for protecting members of the Royal Family. On 20 March 1974 the princess and her husband Captain Mark Phillips were returning to Buckingham Palace from a royal engagement. Their car was stopped in the Mall by another vehicle driven into its ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stuart Archer
Colonel Bertram Stuart Trevelyan Archer, (3 February 1915 – 2 May 2015), known as Stuart Archer, was a recipient of the George Cross, the highest British and Commonwealth award for gallantry not in the face of the enemy. On 3 February 2015 Archer became the first recipient of the Victoria Cross or the George Cross to reach 100 years of age. Early life Before joining the army, Archer was a qualified architect with the Royal Institute of British Architects, receiving his certification at the youngest possible age of 21. In July 1936, he started work in Gray's Inn with a firm in which he eventually became a partner and remained with for all of his working life. Upon joining the army, he first served with the Honourable Artillery Company as an enlisted soldier before joining the Royal Engineers, who carried out bomb disposal work in the United Kingdom. He received an emergency commission as a second lieutenant in the Royal Engineers on 30 March 1940, and carried out bomb disposal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Godfrey Place
Rear Admiral Basil Charles Godfrey Place, (19 July 1921 – 27 December 1994), known as Godfrey Place, was an officer in the Royal Navy and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Naval career Place was 22 years old, and a lieutenant in the Royal Navy during the Second World War, when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC. On 22 September 1943 at Kåfjord, North Norway, Lieutenant Place, commanding Midget Submarine ''X7'', and another lieutenant ( Donald Cameron) commanding Midget Submarine X.6, carried out a most daring and successful attack on the German Battleship '' Tirpitz''. The two submarines had to travel at least 1,000 miles from base, negotiate a mine-field, dodge nets, gun defenses and enemy listening posts. Having eluded all these hazards they finally placed the charges underneath the ship where they went off an hour later, doing so ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tasker Watkins
Sir Tasker Watkins (18 November 1918 – 9 September 2007) was a Welsh Lord Justice of Appeal and deputy Lord Chief Justice. He was President of the Welsh Rugby Union from 1993 to 2004. During the Second World War, he served in the British Army and was awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest British award for valour in the face of the enemy. A war hero who was prominent in the law and in Rugby Union, Watkins was described as ''The Greatest Living Welshman''. Early life Watkins was born in the small town of Nelson, Glamorgan, the son of Bertram Watkins, an engine fitter, and his wife Jane Watkins, née Phillips. He won a scholarship to Pontypridd Boys' Grammar School. In 1931 he moved with his parents to Dagenham in east London. He attended school in Romford where he captained the cricket and football teams and played rugby. After leaving school he worked for export agents and a halibut oil company and became a teacher in London. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roden Cutler
Sir Arthur Roden Cutler, (24 May 1916 – 21 February 2002) was an Australian diplomat, the longest serving Governor of New South Wales and a List of Australian Victoria Cross recipients, recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry "in the face of the enemy" that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth armed forces. Early life Arthur Roden Cutler was born on 24 May 1916. His cousin, Charles Cutler, Sir Charles Cutler, was Deputy Premier of New South Wales from 1965 to 1975. Arthur grew up in the Sydney Harbour suburb of Manly, New South Wales, Manly where he attended the Manly Village Public School. At the age of 15 he enrolled at Sydney Boys High School. After school, he worked for the Texas Company Australasia, which later became Texaco. He studied economics during the night at the University of Sydney and joined the Sydney University Regiment in 1936. On 10 November 1939, he was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Sydney Univ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles, Prince Of Wales
Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to accede to the British throne following the death of his mother, Elizabeth II, on 8 September 2022. Charles was born in Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and was three when his mother ascended the throne in 1952, making him the heir apparent. He was made Prince of Wales in 1958 and his investiture was held in 1969. He was educated at Cheam and Gordonstoun schools, as was his father, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Charles later spent six months at the Timbertop campus of Geelong Grammar School in Victoria, Australia. After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Cambridge, Charles served in the Air Force and Navy from 1971 to 1976. In 1981, he married Lady Diana Spencer, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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