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21-510: Sir Ralph Lilley Turner MC (5 October 1888 – 22 April 1983) was a British philologist of Indian languages and a university administrator. He is notable for composing an Indo-Aryan comparative dictionary. He is also the author of some publications concerning the Romani language . Turner was born in Charlton, London , the son of Bertha (Lilley) and George S. Turner. He was educated at

42-599: A pendant (commonly a medal ) attached. The oldest military decorations still in use is Sweden's För tapperhet i fält ('For Valour in the Field') and För tapperhet till sjöss ('For Valour at Sea') awarded to officers and soldiers of the Swedish Armed Forces who have—as the medal names suggest—shown valour in the field or at sea in wartime. The medal was instituted by Swedish king Gustav III on 28 May 1789, during his war against Russia. Whilst technically it

63-635: A son. One of his grandchildren is Professor Geoffrey L. Smith , head of the Department of Pathology at the University of Cambridge . Another grandchild of Sir Ralph Turner is David Tee , who is in the current England 45+ indoor cricket team. Earlier in his career he had a successful few years for Hertfordshire, and toured the West Indies representing Great British colleges. Through his daughter, Kathleen L. Turner, one of his great-grandchildren

84-478: Is actor Jeremy Irvine . Military Cross The Military Cross ( MC ) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces , and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC is granted in recognition of "an act or acts of exemplary gallantry during active operations against

105-593: Is still active, it is for practical purposes inactive, not having been awarded since 1915. The next oldest is the Austro-Hungarian Tapferkeits Medaille Honour Medal for Bravery 1789–1792. This medal was instituted on 19 July 1789, by the Emperor Joseph II. Another of the oldest military decorations still in use is Poland's War Order of Virtuti Militari ( Latin for 'For Military Valour'). It

126-622: The Conspicuous Gallantry Cross . The Military Cross was designed by Henry Farnham Burke , while its ribbon was created by Victoria Ponsonby, Baroness Sysonby . In the Medal Yearbook 2015 it is described as follows: Since 1914, over 52,000 Military Crosses and 3,717 bars have been awarded. The dates below reflect the relevant London Gazette entries: In addition, approximately 375 MCs have been awarded since 1979, including awards for Northern Ireland ,

147-800: The Falklands , and the wars in the Persian Gulf , Iraq , and Afghanistan . The above table includes awards to the Dominions: Military decoration Civil decorations awarded to military personnel should not be considered military decorations, although some orders of chivalry have civil and military divisions. Decorations received by police and fire brigade personnel may sometimes be considered alongside military decorations, on which they may be modelled, although they are strictly not military awards. Decorations have been known since ancient times. The Egyptian Old Kingdom had

168-569: The Indo-Aryan languages was published in 1966. An Index to this work was produced in 1969 by his wife Dorothy Rivers Turner, née Goulty, who had been arranging slips for the dictionary since the first year of their marriage in about 1920. She also collaborated on Phonetic Analysis in 1971, which appeared in print a few months before her death. The British memorial in London to the Gurkhas

189-632: The Order of the Golden Collar while the New Kingdom awarded the Order of the Golden Fly . Celts and Romans wore a torc or received other military decorations such as the hasta pura , a spear without a tip. Dayaks wore and still wear tattoos , etc. Necklaces and bracelets were given during the early Middle Ages , evolving into large, richly jewelled necklaces, often with

210-827: The Perse School and Christ's College, Cambridge . In 1913, he joined the Indian Educational Service as a lecturer at Queen's College, Benares . From 1915 to 1919, he served with the 2nd battalion, 3rd Queen Alexandra's Own Gurkha Rifles in the British Indian Army during World War I , winning the Military Cross in Palestine . From 1920 to 1922, he was Professor of Indian Linguistics at Benares Hindu University . In 1922, Turner returned to England as Professor of Sanskrit at

231-712: The School of Oriental Studies at the University of London . Between 1924 and 1932, he also published several papers on Romani Studies in the Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society , including "On the position of Romani in Indo-Aryan" (1927). He was director of the school from 1937 to 1957, although he continued to occupy his chair as well until 1954. From 1939 onwards he frequently warned the War Office that given

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252-620: The 1993 review of the honours system , as part of the drive to remove distinctions of rank in awards for bravery the Military Medal , formerly the third-level decoration for other ranks , was discontinued. The MC is now the third-level award for all ranks of the British Armed Forces for "exemplary gallantry" on land, not to the standard required to receive the Victoria Cross (for "the most conspicuous bravery") or

273-638: The Cross were entitled to use the post-nominal letters MC, and bars could be awarded for further acts of gallantry meriting the award, with a silver rosette worn on the ribbon when worn alone to denote the award of each bar. From September 1916, members of the Royal Naval Division , who served alongside the Army on the Western Front , were made eligible for military decorations, including

294-599: The Military Cross were unavailable until 1979, the first awards included seven posthumous awards, with the word 'deceased' after the name of the recipient, from recommendations that had been raised before the recipients died of wounds or died from other causes. Awards are announced in The London Gazette , apart from most honorary awards to allied forces in keeping with the usual practice not to gazette awards to foreigners. From August 1916, recipients of

315-467: The Military Cross, for the war's duration. Naval officers serving with the division received 140 MCs and eight second award bars. In June 1917, eligibility was extended to temporary majors , not above the substantive rank of captain. Substantive majors were made eligible in 1953. In 1931, the award was extended to equivalent ranks in the Royal Air Force for actions on the ground. After

336-674: The Second World War, most Commonwealth countries created their own honours system and no longer recommended British awards. The last Military Cross awards for the Canadian Army were for Korea. The last four Australian Army Military Cross awards were promulgated in The London Gazette on 1 September 1972 for Vietnam as was the last New Zealand Army Military Cross award, which was promulgated on 25 September 1970. Canada , Australia and New Zealand have now created their own gallantry awards under their own honours systems. Since

357-494: The enemy on land" to all members of the British Armed Forces of any rank. In 1979, Queen Elizabeth II approved a proposal that a number of awards, including the Military Cross, could be recommended posthumously. The award was created on 28 December 1914 for commissioned officers of the substantive rank of captain or below and for warrant officers . The first 98 awards were gazetted on 1 January 1915, to 71 officers, and 27 warrant officers. Although posthumous recommendations for

378-585: The possibility of war with Japan it was essential to start training linguists immediately, but his warnings were ignored. It was only after the outbreak of war with Japan that, early in 1942, the War Office and the Board of Education put together a plan with SOAS for short courses in Japanese to meet wartime demands. He was knighted in 1950. His magnum opus , the Comparative Dictionary of

399-411: The trenches, now shivering with wet and cold, now scorched by a pitiless and burning sun. Uncomplaining you endure hunger and thirst and wounds; and at the last your unwavering lines disappear into the smoke and wrath of battle. Bravest of the brave, most generous of the generous, never had country more faithful friends than you. He was married to Dorothy Rivers Goulty, with whom he had three daughters and

420-424: Was first awarded in 1792. Medals have been forged by many people to make the medal appear more valuable or to make one look like a more decorated soldier. Medal forgeries can include: adding bars , engraving a famous soldier's name on it or creating a whole new medal. Medal forgery is illegal in most countries and can be punishable by imprisonment. Today military decorations include: In most NATO militaries, only

441-480: Was unveiled by Queen Elizabeth II on 3 December 1997. The legend on the Gurkha memorial is taken from the following quotation written by Sir Ralph: As I write these last words, my thoughts return to you who were my comrades, the stubborn and indomitable peasants of Nepal. Once more I hear the laughter with which you greeted every hardship. Once more I see you in your bivouacs or about your fires, on forced march or in

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