The term scout , as a description of a class of military aircraft , came into use shortly before the First World War , and initially referred to a fast (for its time), light (usually single-seated) unarmed reconnaissance aircraft . "Scout" types were generally adaptations of pre-war racing aircraft – although at least one (the Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.2 ) was specifically designed for the role. At this stage the possibility of air-to-air combat was considered highly speculative, and the speed of these aircraft relative to their contemporaries was seen as an advantage in gaining immunity from ground fire and in the ability to deliver timely reconnaissance reports.
100-675: Lanoe George Hawker , VC , DSO (30 December 1890 – 23 November 1916) was a British flying ace of the First World War . Having seven credited victories , he was the third pilot to receive the Victoria Cross , the highest decoration for gallantry awarded to British and Commonwealth servicemen. He was killed in a dogfight with the famous German flying ace Manfred von Richthofen ("The Red Baron"), who described him as "the British Boelcke ". Hawker
200-400: A Maltese cross of bronze". Nonetheless, it has always been a cross pattée ; the discrepancy with the warrant has never been corrected. The ribbon is crimson, 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 ″(38 mm) wide. The original (1856) specification for the award stated that the ribbon should be red for army recipients and dark blue for naval recipients, but the dark blue ribbon was abolished soon after
300-668: A Mention in Despatches existed as an alternative award for acts of lesser gallantry. This structure was very limited; in practice, awards of the Order of the Bath were confined to officers of field rank and brevet promotions or Mentions in Despatches were largely confined to those who were under the immediate notice of the commanders in the field, generally members of the commander's own staff. Other European countries had awards that did not discriminate against class or rank; France awarded
400-495: A captain with No. 6 Squadron , Royal Flying Corps , flying Henri Farmans . The squadron converted to the B.E.2c and he undertook numerous reconnaissance missions into 1915, being wounded once by ground fire. On 22 April he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for attacking a German zeppelin shed at Gontrode by dropping hand grenades at low level (below 200 ft) from his B.E.2c. He used
500-613: A private awarded a VC or GC. As there was no formal order of wear laid down, the Victoria Cross was at first worn as the recipient fancied. It was popular to pin it on the left side of the chest over the heart, with other decorations grouped around the VC. The Queen's Regulations for the Army of 1881 gave clear instructions on how to wear it; the VC had to follow the badge of the Order of
600-749: A 2008 donation to the Imperial War Museum , the Ashcroft collection went on public display alongside the museum's Victoria and George Cross collection in November 2010. Beginning with Canada on its centenary of confederation in 1967, followed in 1975 by Australia and New Zealand , these countries developed their own national honours systems, separate from and independent of the British or Imperial honours system. As each country's system evolved, operational gallantry awards were developed with
700-511: A Companion in an Order of Chivalry , the VC has no place in a coat of arms . 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,
800-688: A ceremony in Wellington in June 1870 to Mōkena Kōhere , Te Keepa Te Rangihiwinui (Major Kemp), Te Pokiha Taranui , Henare Tomoana , Ropata Wahawaha , and Ihaka Whaanga . The question of whether awards could be made to colonial troops not serving with British troops was raised in South Africa in 1881. Surgeon John McCrea , an officer of the South African forces was recommended for gallantry during hostilities which had not been approved by
900-540: A clamp and spring-clip device to hold the Lewis in place on the DH.2. He also designed sheepskin boots that reached to the upper thigh, known as "fug-boots," which became standard issue to combat the risk of frostbite at high altitude. By mid 1916, RFC policy was to ban squadron commanders from operational flying, Hawker included. However, he continued to make frequent offensive patrols and reconnaissance flights, particularly over
1000-459: A different Bristol Scout C, serial No. 1611, after his earlier No. 1609 had been written off, transplanting the custom Lewis gun mount onto No. 1611. The first aerial victory for Hawker that day occurred after he had emptied a complete drum of bullets from his aircraft's single Lewis machine gun into it, sending it spinning down. The second was driven to the ground damaged, and the third – an Albatros C.I of FFA 3 – which he attacked at
1100-516: A figure of considerable fame within the ranks of the RFC. It has since been argued that shooting down three aircraft in one mission was a feat repeated several times by later pilots, and whether Hawker deserved his Victoria Cross has been questioned. However, in the context of the air war of mid-1915 it was unusual to shoot down even one aircraft, and the VC was awarded on the basis that all the enemy planes were armed with machine guns. More significantly, by
SECTION 10
#17327936699411200-555: A height of about 10,000 feet, burst into flames and crashed. (Pilot Oberleutnant Uebelacker and observer Hauptmann Roser were both killed.) For this feat he was awarded the Victoria Cross , as the third military pilot (and the first fighter pilot) to receive the Victoria Cross (VC), following William Barnard Rhodes-Moorhouse 's pioneering award for bravery during a bombing raid, and Reginald Warneford 's award for an anti- Zeppelin attack on an airborne Deutsches Heer airship, using aerial bombing to bring it down. This particular sortie
1300-601: A metallurgical examination of the VCs in the custody of the Australian War Memorial, and later the historian John Glanfield wrote that, through the use of X-ray studies of older Victoria Crosses, it was determined that the metal used for almost all VCs since December 1914 is taken from antique Chinese guns, replacing an earlier gun. Creagh noted the existence of Chinese inscriptions on the cannon, which are now barely legible due to corrosion. A likely explanation
1400-452: A miniature of the Cross has been affixed to the centre of the ribbon bar when worn without the Cross. In the event of a second award bar, a second replica is worn alongside the first. The Victoria Cross is 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. A recommendation for
1500-488: 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
1600-508: A recipient's name to be erased from the official register in certain wholly discreditable circumstances and his pension cancelled. Eight were forfeited between 1861 and 1908. The power to cancel and restore awards is still included in the Victoria Cross warrant. King George V felt very strongly that the decoration should never be forfeited and in a letter from his Private Secretary, Lord Stamfordham , on 26 July 1920, his views are forcefully expressed: The King feels so strongly that, no matter
1700-602: A single unit during a single action is seven, to the 2nd/ 24th Foot , for the defence of Rorke's Drift , 22–23 January 1879, during the Zulu War . The greatest number won in a single conflict is 628, during the First World War. Ishar Singh became the first Indian Sikh to receive the award. Eight of the 12 surviving holders of the Victoria Cross attended the 150th Anniversary service of remembrance at Westminster Abbey on 26 June 2006. Three people have been awarded
1800-535: A tethered German balloon to help shield him from enemy ground fire as he made successive attacks. During the Second Battle of Ypres , Hawker was wounded in the foot by ground fire. For the remainder of the battle he had to be carried to and from his aircraft, but refused to be grounded until the fight was over. He returned to 6 Squadron after hospitalisation. The squadron received several single-seat scouts , and some early F.E.2 'pushers'. One aircraft received
1900-651: A visit to troops in France. The presentation occurred on 5 December 1914 and he is one of a very few soldiers presented with his award before it appeared in the London Gazette . Since the Second World War , most but not all Commonwealth countries have created their own honours systems and no longer participate in the British honours system . This began soon after the Partition of India in 1947, when
2000-755: A weak constitution, which led to jaundice . With the strenuous nature of a naval career unsuitable, he entered the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich before joining the Royal Engineers as an officer cadet. A clever inventor, Hawker developed a keen interest in all mechanical and engineering developments. During the summer of 1910 he saw a film featuring the Wright Flyer and after attending an aircraft flying display at Bournemouth , he quickly found an interest in aviation, learning to fly at his own expense at Hendon . On 4 March 1913, Hawker
2100-492: Is a bronze cross pattée , 1 + 39 ⁄ 64 ″ (41 mm) high, 1 + 27 ⁄ 64 ″ (36 mm) wide, bearing the crown of Saint Edward surmounted by a lion, and the inscription "for valour". This was originally to have been "for the brave", until it was changed on the recommendation of Queen Victoria, as it implied that only men who were awarded the cross were brave. The decoration, suspension bar, and link weigh about 0.87 troy ounces (27 g). The cross
SECTION 20
#17327936699412200-480: Is similar to that for the early WW1 medals. This is likely to be due to the reuse of material from earlier pourings, casting sprues , defective medals, etc. The remaining portion of the only remaining cascabel, weighing 358 oz (10 kg), is stored in a vault maintained by 15 Regiment Royal Logistic Corps at MoD Donnington and may only be removed under armed guard. It is estimated that approximately 80 to 85 more VCs could be cast from this source. The decoration
2300-432: Is suspended by a ring from a seriffed "V" to a bar ornamented with laurel leaves, through which the ribbon passes. The reverse of the suspension bar is engraved with the recipient's name, rank, number and unit. On the reverse of the medal is a circular panel on which the date of the act for which it was awarded is engraved in the centre. The Original Warrant Clause 1 states that the Victoria Cross "shall consist of
2400-793: Is that the cannon were taken as trophies during the First Opium War and held in the Woolwich repository. It was also thought that some medals made during the First World War were composed of metal captured from different Chinese guns during the Boxer Rebellion . This is not so, however. The VCs examined by Creagh and Ashton both in Australia (58) and at the National Army Museum in New Zealand (14) spanned
2500-552: Is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the British decorations 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 to service personnel in the broader British Empire (later Commonwealth of Nations ), with most successor independent nations now having established their own honours systems and no longer recommending British honours. It may be awarded to
2600-497: Is the largest collection of such decorations. In July 2008 it was announced that Ashcroft was to donate £5 million for a permanent gallery at the Imperial War Museum where the 50 VCs held by the museum would be put on display alongside his collection. The Lord Ashcroft Gallery at the Imperial War Museum opened on 12 November 2010, containing a total of 210 VCs and 31 GCs. Scout (aircraft) Almost from
2700-677: Is the sole recipient of both the Victoria Cross and the Iron Cross . The VC was awarded for his actions during the Waikato-Hauhau Maori War , New Zealand on 29 April 1864, while the Iron Cross was awarded for tending the wounded during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71. Royal New Zealand Air Force Flying Officer Lloyd Allan Trigg is the only serviceman ever awarded a VC on evidence solely provided by
2800-657: 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 British Army and 4 to members of the Australian Army , have been awarded since the Second World War . The traditional explanation of the source of the metal from which the medals are struck is that it derives from a Russian cannon captured at the siege of Sevastopol . However, research has indicated another origin for
2900-694: The Gazette dating back to the Indian Mutiny. The Victoria Cross warrant was not amended to explicitly allow posthumous awards until 1920, but one quarter of all awards for World War I were posthumous. The process and motivations of selecting the medal's recipients has sometimes been interpreted as inconsistent or overly political. The most common observation has been that the Victoria Cross may be given more often for engagements that senior military personnel would like to publicly promote. The 1920 royal warrant made provision for awards to women serving in
3000-696: The Indian Order of Merit since 1837, which was the oldest British gallantry award for general issue. When the Victoria Cross was created, Indian troops were still controlled by the Honourable East India Company and did not come under Crown control until 1860. European officers and men serving with the Honourable East India Company were not eligible for the Indian Order of Merit and the Victoria Cross
3100-572: The Latin " pro valore " . This language was chosen so as to favour neither French nor English, the two official languages of Canada. New Zealand was the third country to adapt the VC into its own honours system. While the New Zealand and Australian VCs are technically separate awards, the decoration is identical to the British design, including being cast from the same gunmetal as the British VC. The Canadian Victoria Cross also includes metal from
Lanoe Hawker - Misplaced Pages Continue
3200-653: The Légion d'honneur (Legion of Honour, established 1802) and the Netherlands gave the Order of William (established in 1815). There was a growing feeling among the public and in the Royal Court that a new award was needed to recognise incidents of gallantry that were unconnected with the length or merit of a man's service. Queen Victoria issued a warrant under the royal sign-manual on 29 January 1856 ( gazetted 5 February 1856) that officially constituted
3300-506: The Parama Weera Vibhushanaya medal. Three Commonwealth realms —Australia, Canada and New Zealand —have each introduced their own decorations for gallantry and bravery, replacing British decorations such as the Victoria Cross with their own. The only Commonwealth countries that still can recommend the VC are the small nations that still participate in the British honours system, none of whose forces have ever been awarded
3400-702: The QEII Army Memorial Museum in Waiouru , New Zealand, with a value of around NZD $ 20 million. Charles Upham 's VC and Bar was among these. A reward of NZ$ 300,000, provided by Lord Ashcroft, was posted for information leading to the recovery of the decorations. On 16 February 2008, New Zealand Police announced that all of the medals had been recovered. There are a number of collections of Victoria Crosses. The VC collection of businessman and politician Lord Ashcroft , amassed since 1986, contains 162 medals, over one-tenth of all VCs awarded. It
3500-710: The Royal Flying Corps and early Royal Air Force parlance "scout" remained the usual term for a single-seat fighter into the early 1920s. The term "fighter", or "fighting aircraft" was already current, but in this period referred specifically to a two-seater fighter such as the Sopwith 1½ Strutter or the Bristol Fighter . This usage "scout" (or sometimes "fighting scout") for "single-seat fighter" can be found in many contemporary accounts, including fictional depictions of First World War air combat such as
3600-697: The War in Afghanistan in 2004. The Canadian Victoria Cross has been cast once, to be awarded to the Unknown Soldier at the rededication of the Vimy Memorial on 7 April 2007 (this date being chosen as it was the 90th anniversary of the battle of Vimy Ridge ), but pressure from veterans' organisations caused the plan to be dropped. As the highest award for valour of the United Kingdom,
3700-507: The War in Afghanistan ; Ben Roberts-Smith , Daniel Keighran and Cameron Baird were also awarded the Victoria Cross for Australia for actions in Afghanistan. Teddy Sheean was awarded the VC after the Australian Government convened an expert panel to review his case. The Victoria Cross for New Zealand has been awarded once: Corporal Willie Apiata ( New Zealand Special Air Service ) on 2 July 2007, for his actions in
3800-538: The 111 Crimean recipients in a ceremony in Hyde Park, London . A single company of jewellers, Hancocks & Co , has been responsible for the production of every VC awarded since its inception. It has long been widely believed that all the VCs were cast in bronze from the cascabels of two cannons that were captured from the Russians at the siege of Sevastopol . However, in 1990 Creagh and Ashton conducted
3900-578: The Armed Forces. No woman has been awarded a VC. In the case of a gallant and daring act being performed by a squadron, ship's company or a detached body of men (such as marines) in which all men are deemed equally brave and deserving of the Victoria Cross, a ballot is drawn. The officers select one officer, the NCOs select one individual, and the private soldiers or seamen select two individuals. In all, 46 awards have been awarded by ballot with 29 of
4000-634: The British Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood . Australia was the first Commonwealth realm to create its own VC, on 15 January 1991. Although it is a separate award, its appearance is identical to its British counterpart. Canada followed suit when in 1993 Queen Elizabeth signed Letters Patent creating the Canadian VC, which is also similar to the British version, except that the legend has been changed from "for valour" to
4100-575: The British Government. He was awarded the Victoria Cross and the principle was established that gallant conduct could be rewarded independently of any political consideration of military operations. More recently, four Australian soldiers were awarded the Victoria Cross in the Vietnam War although Britain was not involved in the conflict. Indian troops were not originally eligible for the Victoria Cross since they had been eligible for
Lanoe Hawker - Misplaced Pages Continue
4200-668: The British forces before 31 March 1949 while domiciled in Canada or Newfoundland receive Can$ 3,000 per year. Under Subsection 103.4 of the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986, the Australian Government provides a Victoria Cross Allowance. Until November 2005 the amount was A$ 3,230 per year. Since then this amount has been increased annually in line with the Australian Consumer Price Index. The original royal warrant involved an expulsion clause that allowed for
4300-515: The German Army, was by Leutnant Kurt Wintgens on 1 July 1915, some 225 miles (362 km) over Lunéville distant from where Hawker had his three-victory success nearly a month later. Therefore, the German pilots like Wintgens and Leutnant Otto Parschau , another pioneering Eindecker pilot, could employ the simple combat tactic of aiming the whole aircraft, and presenting a small target to
4400-647: The House of Assembly, South Australia in 1860. The Hawker family had a military tradition, with army commissions being held in each generation since the time of Elizabeth I . A first cousin was Arthur Bagot , a naval officer in the First World War and Albert Medal recipient. Lanoe was sent to Stubbington House School and at the age of 11 to the Royal Navy College in Dartmouth , but although highly intelligent and an enthusiastic sportsman, he suffered from
4500-604: The Indian Empire . In 1900 it was ordained in Dress Regulations for the Army that it should be worn after the cross of a Member of the Royal Victorian Order . It was only in 1902 that Edward VII gave the cross its present position on a bar brooch. The cross is also worn as a miniature decoration on a brooch or a chain with mess jacket , white tie or black tie . As a bearer of the VC is not
4600-506: The Second Boer War. In an exception to policy for the Second Boer War, six posthumous Victoria Crosses, three to those mentioned in the notices in 1900 and 1901 and a further three, were granted on 8 August 1902, the first official posthumous awards. Five years later in 1907, the posthumous policy was reversed for earlier wars, and medals were sent to the next of kin of the six officers and men whose names were mentioned in notices in
4700-597: The Somme . In January 1969, the record reached £1700 (£35300 ) for the medal set of William Rennie . In April 2004 the VC awarded in 1944 to Sergeant Norman Jackson , RAF, was sold at an auction for £235,250. On 24 July 2006, an auction at Bonhams in Sydney of the VC awarded to Captain Alfred Shout fetched a world record hammer price of A$ 1 million (approximately £410,000 at the time). In November 2009, it
4800-722: The Somme battlefields. As the year wore on, the Germans introduced far more potent fighters to the front, starting with the Luftstreitkräfte ' s first biplane fighter, the single-gun armed Halberstadt D.II , and shortly thereafter the even more advanced, twin-gunned Albatros D.I , rapidly making the DH.2 obsolete. On 23 November 1916, while flying an Airco DH.2 (Serial No. 5964), Hawker left Bertangles Aerodrome at 1300 hours as part of 'A' Flight, led by Captain (later Air Vice Marshal) J. O. Andrews and including Lieutenant (later Air Marshal) R.H.M.S Saundby . Andrews led
4900-401: The US Medal of Honor and reciprocally the Victoria Cross was presented to the American Unknown Soldier of the First World War. This is the only ungazetted VC award following the normal British practice for both gallantry and meritorious awards to foreign recipients not being gazetted. It is included in the total of 1,358 awards. In 1856, Queen Victoria laid an unnamed Victoria Cross beneath
5000-420: The VC and Bar , the bar representing a second award of the VC. They are Noel Godfrey Chavasse and Arthur Martin-Leake , both doctors in the Royal Army Medical Corps , for rescuing wounded under fire; and New Zealander Captain Charles Upham , an infantryman, for combat actions. Upham remains the only combatant soldier to have received a VC and Bar. Surgeon General William George Nicholas Manley , an Irishman,
5100-399: The VC can be seen by the increasing sums that the medals reach at auctions. In 1955 the set of medals awarded to Edmund Barron Hartley was bought at Sotheby's for the then record price of £300 (approximately £9900 in present-day terms ). In October 1966 the Middlesex Regiment paid a new record figure of £900 (approximately £21200 in present-day terms ) for a VC awarded after the Battle of
SECTION 50
#17327936699415200-455: The VC is normally issued by an officer at regimental level, or equivalent, and has to be supported by three witnesses, although this has been waived on occasion. The recommendation is then passed up the military hierarchy until it reaches the Secretary of State for Defence . The recommendation is then laid before the monarch who approves the award with his or her signature. Victoria Cross awards are always promulgated in The London Gazette with
5300-420: The VC. When the Union of South Africa instituted its own range of military decorations and medals with effect from 6 April 1952, these new awards took precedence before all earlier British decorations and medals awarded to South Africans, with the exception of the Victoria Cross, which still took precedence before all other awards. The other older British awards continued to be worn in the order prescribed by
5400-429: The VC. The order was backdated to 1854 to recognise acts of valour during the Crimean War. Queen Victoria had instructed the War Office to strike a new medal that would not recognise birth or class. The medal was meant to be a simple decoration that would be highly prized and eagerly sought after by those in the military services. To maintain its simplicity, Queen Victoria, under the guidance of Prince Albert , vetoed
5500-486: The Victoria Cross is always the first award to be presented at an investiture, even before knighthoods , as was shown at the investiture of Private Johnson Beharry , who received his medal before General Sir Mike Jackson received his knighthood. Owing to its status, the VC is always the first decoration worn in a row of medals and it is the first set of post-nominal letters used to indicate any decoration or order. Similar acts of extreme valour that do not take place in
5600-400: The Victoria Cross were raised for local troops who distinguished themselves in action. Following gallant actions by three New Zealand soldiers in November 1868 and January 1869 during the New Zealand Wars , an Order in Council on 10 March 1869 created a "Distinctive Decoration" for members of the local forces without seeking permission from the Secretary of State for the Colonies . Although
5700-413: The Western Front in the run up to the Somme offensive in July 1916. Hawker's aggressive personal philosophy of "Attack Everything", was the entire text of his tactical order of 30 June 1916. Spurred by his aggressiveness, 24 Squadron claimed some 70 victories by November at the cost of 12 of its own planes and 21 pilots killed, wounded or missing. Around this time, Hawker developed a ring gunsight and created
5800-412: The amount of which is determined by the awarding government. Since 2015, the annuity paid by the British Government is £10,000 per year. This is exempted from tax for British taxpayers by Section 638 Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003, along with pensions or annuities from other awards for bravery. In Canada, under the Gallantry Awards Order , members of the Canadian Forces or people who joined
5900-413: The awards during the Indian Mutiny. Four further awards were granted to Q Battery, Royal Horse Artillery at Korn Spruit on 31 March 1900 during the Second Boer War. The final ballot awards for the army were the six awards to the Lancashire Fusiliers at W Beach during the landing at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915, although three of the awards were not gazetted until 1917. The final seven ballot awards were
6000-448: The beginning of the war, various experiments were carried out in the fitting of armament to scouts to enable them to engage in air-to-air combat – by early 1916 several types of scout could fire a machine gun forwards, in the line of flight, thus becoming the first effective single-seat fighter aircraft – in effect, an entirely new class of aircraft. In French and German usage these types were termed "hunters" ( chasseur , Jäger ), but in
6100-431: The correct procedures to recover from a spin. Once the pilots became used to the DH.2's characteristics, confidence in the aircraft rose quickly, as they came to appreciate its manoeuvrability. He then led the squadron back to Bertangles , north of the Somme in February 1916, where the squadron quickly helped counter the Fokker Eindecker monoplanes of the Imperial German Army 's Fliegertruppe which were dominant over
SECTION 60
#17327936699416200-554: 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 scaffold . A total of 1,358 Victoria Crosses have been awarded since 1856 to 1,355 men. The greatest number of Victoria Crosses awarded for a single day was 24 for deeds performed during the Indian Mutiny on 16 November 1857, 23 for deeds at Lucknow and one by Francis David Millet Brown for action at Narnoul . The greatest number won by
6300-437: The early summer of 1915, the German Feldflieger Abteilung two-seater observation units of the future Luftstreitkräfte , had by this time, received examples of the Fokker Eindecker monoplane, with one Eindecker going to each unit, with a fixed, forward-firing machine gun fitted with a " synchronization gear " that prevented the bullets from striking the propeller. The first claim using this arrangement, though unconfirmed by
6400-400: The end of the Second World War, the original VC has been awarded 15 times: four in the Korean War , one in the Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation in 1965, four to Australians in the Vietnam War , two during the Falklands War in 1982, one in the Iraq War in 2004, and three in the War in Afghanistan for actions in 2006, 2012 and 2013. In 1921, the British Unknown Warrior was awarded
6500-401: The enemy while approaching from any angle, preferably from a blind spot where the enemy observer could not return fire. Hawker flew before Britain had any workable synchroniser gear, so his Bristol Scout had its machine gun mounted on the left side of the cockpit, firing forwards and sideways at a 45 degree angle to avoid the propeller. The only direction from which he could attack an enemy
6600-402: The enemy, for an action in which there were no surviving Allied witnesses. The recommendation was made by the captain of the German U-boat U-468 sunk by Trigg's aircraft. Lieutenant Commander Gerard Roope was also awarded a VC on recommendation of the enemy, the captain of the Admiral Hipper , but there were also numerous surviving Allied witnesses to corroborate his actions. Since
6700-440: The enemy. Six such awards were made during this period—five of them for a single incident during an Expedition to the Andaman Islands in 1867. In 1881, the criteria were changed again and the VC was only awarded for acts of valour "in the face of the enemy". Due to this, it has been suggested by many historians including Lord Ashcroft that the changing nature of warfare will result in fewer VCs being awarded. The Victoria Cross
6800-476: The entire time during which VCs have been issued and no compositional inconsistencies were found. It was also believed that another source of metal was used between 1942 and 1945 to create five Second World War VCs when the Sevastopol metal "went missing". Creagh accessed the Army records at MoD Donnington in 1991 and did not find any gaps in the custodial record. The composition found in the WW2 VCs, among them those for Edwards (Australia) and Upham (New Zealand),
6900-427: The face of the enemy are honoured with the George Cross (GC), which has equal precedence but is awarded second because the GC is newer. It is not 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 King's Regulations and Orders , but tradition dictates that this occurs and, consequently, senior officers will salute
7000-423: The flight in an attack on two German aircraft over Achiet . Spotting a larger flight of German aircraft above, Andrews was about to break off the attack, but spotted Hawker diving to attack. Andrews and Saundby followed him to back him up in his fight; Andrews drove off one of the Germans attacking Hawker, then took bullets in his engine and glided out of the fight under Saundby's covering fire. Losing contact with
7100-410: The formation of the Royal Air Force on 1 April 1918. On 22 May 1920 George V signed a warrant that stated all recipients would now receive a red ribbon and the living recipients of the naval version were required to exchange their ribbons for the new colour. Although the army warrants state the colour as being red, it is defined by most commentators as being crimson or "wine-red". Since 1917
7200-495: The foundation stone of Netley Military hospital . When the hospital was demolished in 1966 the VC, known as "The Netley VC", was retrieved and is now on display in the Army Medical Services Museum , Mytchett , near Aldershot. This VC is not counted in official statistics. Since 1879, more than 300 Victoria Crosses have been publicly auctioned or advertised. Others have been privately sold. The value of
7300-615: The governor was chided for exceeding his authority, the Order in Council was ratified by the Queen. The title "Distinctive Decoration" was later replaced by the title New Zealand Cross . In addition, in 1870 Victoria sent six ceremonial Highland broadswords to New Zealand, to be presented as "Swords of Honour" to Māori rangatira who had served with distinction during the New Zealand Land Wars . The swords were presented in
7400-510: The lines, but a bullet from his last burst struck Hawker in the back of his head, killing him instantly. His plane spun from 1,000 ft (300 m) and crashed 200 metres (220 yards) east of Luisenhof Farm , just south of Bapaume on the Flers Road, becoming the German ace 's 11th victim. German Grenadiers reported burying Hawker 250 yards (230 metres) east of Luisenhof Farm along the roadside. Richthofen claimed Hawker's Lewis gun from
7500-483: The material. The historian John Glanfield has established that the metal for most of the medals made since December 1914 came from two Chinese cannons and that there is no evidence of Russian origin. The VC is highly prized and has been valued at over £400,000 at auctions. A number of public and private collections are devoted to the Victoria Cross. The private collection of Lord Ashcroft , amassed since 1986, contains over one-tenth of all Victoria Crosses awarded. After
7600-522: The new countries of India and Pakistan introduced their own systems of awards. The VC was replaced by the Param Vir Chakra (PVC) and Nishan-e-Haider (NH) respectively. Most if not all new honours systems continued to permit recipients of British honours to wear their awards according to the rules of each nation's order of wear. Sri Lanka, whose defence personnel were eligible to receive the Victoria Cross until 1972, introduced its own equivalent,
7700-420: The new fighter, which featured a forward-mounted Lewis machine gun, soon earned a reputation for spinning; its rear mounted rotary engine and sensitive controls made it very responsive. Hawker countered this worry by taking a DH.2 up over the squadron base and, in front of the squadron pilots, put the aircraft through a series of spins, each time recovering safely. After landing, he carefully described to all pilots
7800-462: The only naval ballot awards with three awards to two Q-ships in 1917 and four awards for the Zeebrugge Raid in 1918. The provision for awards by ballot is still included in the Victoria Cross warrant, but there have been no further such awards since 1918. Between 1858 and 1881, the Victoria Cross could be awarded for actions taken "under circumstances of extreme danger" not in the face of
7900-451: The other DH.2s, Hawker began a lengthy dogfight with an Albatros D.II flown by Leutnant Manfred von Richthofen of Jasta 2 . The Albatros was faster than the DH.2, more powerful and, with a pair of lMG 08 machine guns , more heavily armed. Richthofen fired 900 rounds during the running battle. Running low on fuel, Hawker eventually broke away from the combat and attempted to return to Allied lines. The Red Baron's guns jammed 50 yards from
8000-684: The practice of putting fabric protective coverings on the tips of wooden propellers, the use of fur-lined thigh boots, and devising a primitive 'rocking fuselage' for target practice on the ground. In 1916 he also developed (with W.L. French) the increased capacity 97-round 'double drum' for the Lewis machine gun. It was issued for trials in July and after modifications was issued generally to the RFC and RNAS. Following an initial air victory in June, on 25 July 1915 when on patrol over Passchendaele , Captain Hawker attacked three German aircraft in succession, flying
8100-482: The premier award of each system, with the Victoria Cross for Australia , the Canadian Victoria Cross and the Victoria Cross for New Zealand being created and named in honour of the Victoria Cross. They are unique awards of each honours system recommended, assessed, gazetted and presented by each country. In 1854, after 39 years of peace, Britain was in a major war against Russia. The Crimean War
8200-407: The recipient by the reigning British monarch. Nearly 300 awards have been presented by a member of the royal family or by a civil or military dignitary. About 150 awards were either forwarded to the recipient or next of kin by registered post or no details of the presentations are known. The original royal warrant did not contain a specific clause regarding posthumous awards, although official policy
8300-544: The same cannon, along with copper and other metals from all regions of Canada. There have been five recipients of the Victoria Cross for Australia, four for action in Afghanistan and one awarded for action in the Second World War following a review. The first was to Trooper Mark Donaldson ( Special Air Service Regiment ) on 16 January 2009 for actions during Operation Slipper , the Australian contribution to
8400-629: The single exception of the award to the American Unknown Soldier in 1921. The Victoria Cross warrant makes no specific provision as to who should actually present the medals to the recipients. Queen Victoria indicated that she would like to present the medals in person and she presented 185 medals out of the 472 gazetted during her reign. Including the first 62 medals presented at a parade in Hyde Park on 26 June 1857 by Queen Victoria, nearly 900 awards have been personally presented to
8500-400: The suggestion that the award be called The Military Order of Victoria and instead suggested the name Victoria Cross . The original warrant stated that the Victoria Cross would only be awarded to officers and men who had served in the presence of the enemy and had performed some signal act of valour or devotion. The first ceremony was held on 26 June 1857 at which Queen Victoria invested 62 of
8600-467: The time, driven largely by the imagination of Strange and the engineering talents of Hawker. Their talents led to various mountings for Lewis machine guns, one of which won Hawker the Victoria Cross, and one that nearly cost Strange his life. Hawker's innovative ideas at this time greatly benefited the fledgling RFC. He helped to invent the Prideaux disintegrating link machine-gun belt feed, and initiated
8700-521: The wreck as a trophy and hung it above the door of his quarters. Major Lanoe George Hawker is listed on the Arras Flying Services Memorial for airmen lost with no known grave. Hawker's original Victoria Cross was lost when the Hawker family belongings were left behind after the fall of France in 1940. On their return after the Second World War , they found that their possessions, including the VC, had been stolen. A replacement
8800-542: Was a Bristol Scout C, with RFC s/n 1609 that Hawker, with assistance from Air Mechanic Ernest Elton (who later became an ace himself), equipped with their design of Lewis gun mount, enabling the machine gun to fire forward obliquely at an acute horizontal angle to the axis of flight, missing the propeller arc. While with No 6 squadron in 1915, Captain Hawker was a comrade of Captain Louis Strange . The Squadron became pioneers of many aspects in military aviation at
8900-616: Was awarded Aviator's Certificate No. 435 by the Royal Aero Club . Promoted to 1st Lieutenant in October 1913 he was posted to Cork Harbour with the 33rd Fortress Company. His request for attachment to the Royal Flying Corps was granted and he reported to the Central Flying School at Upavon on 1 August 1914, three days before Britain entered the First World War. Hawker was posted to France in October 1914, as
9000-583: Was born on 30 December 1890 at Longparish , Hampshire , England, to Lieutenant Henry Colley Hawker, R.N. , and Julia Gordon Lanoe Hawker, daughter of Major Peter William Lanoe Hawker, of the 74th Highlanders and sister of the author Mary Elizabeth Hawker ("Lanoe Falconer") . His parents were distant cousins; Hawker's father was of a cadet branch of the family resident in Australia since his own father, George Charles Hawker (son of Royal Navy Admiral Edward Hawker ), emigrated in 1839, being elected Speaker of
9100-582: Was donated to the Royal Canadian Regiment Museum in London, Ontario , Canada in 1979, was stolen on Canada Day (1 July 1980), when the museum was overcrowded and has been missing since. A VC awarded in 1917 to Canadian soldier Corporal Filip Konowal was stolen from the same museum in 1973 and was not recovered until 2004. On 2 December 2007, nine VCs were among 100 medals (12 sets) stolen from locked, reinforced glass cabinets at
9200-524: Was extended to colonial troops in 1867. The extension was made following a recommendation for gallantry regarding colonial soldier Major Charles Heaphy for action in the New Zealand Wars in 1864. He was operating under British command and the VC was gazetted in 1867. Later that year, the Government of New Zealand assumed full responsibility for operations, but no further recommendations for
9300-415: Was extended to cover them in October 1857. It was only at the end of the 19th century that calls for Indian troops to be awarded the Victoria Cross intensified. Indian troops became eligible for the award in 1911. The first awards to Indian troops appeared in the London Gazette on 7 December 1914 to Darwan Singh Negi and Khudadad Khan . Negi was presented with the Victoria Cross by George V during
9400-525: Was from its right rear quarter – precisely in a direction from which it was easy for the observer to fire at him. Thus, in each of the three attacks, Hawker was directly exposed to the fire of an enemy machine gun. Promoted to major early in 1916. Hawker was placed in command of the RFC's first (single seater) fighter squadron, Number 24 based at Hounslow Heath Aerodrome and flying the Airco DH.2 pusher. After two fatalities in recent flying accidents,
9500-613: Was issued to Hawker's brother on 3 February 1960, and is now held by the Royal Air Force Museum , Hendon . A window (designed by Francis Skeat ) commemorating Hawker was installed in St Nicholas church, Longparish in 1967. The design features St Michael above an airfield with two pilots in the foreground. A copy of the window is in the Army Flying Museum at Middle Wallop . A memorial to Hawker
9600-532: Was just one of the many which Captain Hawker undertook during almost a year of constant operational flying and fighting. He claimed at least three more victories in August 1915, either in the Scout or an F.E.2. Hawker was posted back to England in late 1915, with some seven victory claims (including one captured, three destroyed, one 'out of control' and one 'forced to land'), making him the first British flying ace, and
9700-587: Was not to award the VC posthumously. Between the First war of Indian Independence in 1857 and the beginning of the Second Boer War , the names of six officers and men were published in the London Gazette with a memorandum stating they would have been awarded the Victoria Cross had they survived. A further three notices were published in the London Gazette in September 1900 and April 1901 for gallantry in
9800-493: Was one of the first wars with modern reporting, and the dispatches of William Howard Russell described many acts of bravery and valour by British servicemen that went unrewarded. Before the Crimean War, there was no official standardised system for recognition of gallantry within the British armed forces. Officers were eligible for an award of one of the junior grades of the Order of the Bath and brevet promotions while
9900-536: Was reported that almost £1.5 million was paid to St Peter's College, Oxford by Lord Ashcroft for the VC and bar awarded to Noel Chavasse . Vice Admiral Gordon Campbell 's medal group, including the VC he received for actions while in command of HMS Farnborough , was reportedly sold for a record £840,000. Several VCs have been stolen and, being valuable, have been placed on the Interpol watch-list for stolen items. The VC awarded to Milton Gregg , which
10000-469: Was unveiled in the village of Ligny Thilloy, one km from where he crashed and was buried, on 11 November 2011. It was erected by XXIV Squadron, Royal Air Force, beside the village war memorial. Hawker was portrayed by Corin Redgrave in the 1971 film Von Richthofen and Brown . In the 2008 film The Red Baron , he was played by Richard Krajčo . Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross ( VC )
#940059