The Victoria Cross of British Empire

The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of some Commonwealth countries and previous British Empire territories. It takes priority over all other orders, decorations and medals. It may be awarded to a person of any rank in any service and civilians under military command, and is obtainable to the recipient by the British monarch during an investiture held at Buckingham Palace. It is the joint highest award for courage in the United Kingdom with the George Cross, which is the corresponding honor for valour not in the face of the enemy.

The Victoria Cross was presented January 29, 1856 by Queen Victoria to reward for the acts of bravery during the Crimean War. Since then the medal 1.356 times were allotted to 1.353 various recipients. Only 13 medals, nine with the British army and four with the Australian army were allotted since the beginning of the Korean War. The traditional explanation of the source of the gunmetal of what the medals are struck is that it derives from the Russian gun captured with the head office of Sevastopol.. Recent research threw the doubt about this history, suggesting a variety of origins. Because of its rarity, the VC are strongly estimated and the medal can reach more than £400.000 with the bidding. There are a certain number of public and private collections devoted to him, in particular that of Ashcroft lord, who contains more than one tenth of all allotted VCs.