"FOR VALOUR"

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2311, 19 November 1914, Page 5

"FOR VALOUR"

AWARDS OF THE VICTORIA CROSS ' London, November 17. ' Five officers and four non-commis-sioned racers, including two sergeants of the <L Battery, have been awarded the Victoria Cross, . •■.-. : - * Two officers to whom the Cross was Rwarded have died.of wounds at-Ypres. (Reo. November 18, 9.5 p.m.) .' London, November 17. Amongst the recipients of Victoria Crosses are:— , Captains Grenfell and Reynolds, for saving guns. " ■ Captain Wright, mortally wounded while rescuing a comrade) ' ■ Surgeon Rankin, attending the wounded under fire.": ■ ' ■ .. •

The Victoria Cross (V.0.) was instituted in 1856, on the close of the Crimean War, as a recognition of conspicuous acts of i bravery in presence of'the enemy displayed by either soldiers or sailors. It was designed primarily for the rank and file, and noncommissioned officers, but it -, is held also by all grades up to Field-Marshals and Admirals of.the Fleet, and was extended to civilians who had borne arms against the Indian mutineers. In 1911 tho decoration was extended to nativo officers' and men of the Indian Army. Conjoined with the decoration is the conferment upon non-commissioned officers and men of a pension of £10 per annum, and an. additional £5 for each bar. This £10 may bo increased to £50 (at the-option of: the Secretary of .State for War or the First Lord of the Admiralty), in any cases where the recipients are unable to maintain themselves. Pensions -in rupees are appointed for the native ranks of the Indian Army, which, on the death of the recipient, are continued to his widow until her death or re-marriage. Tho badge consists in ■ a cross-patee of bronze,* having in ' the centre an Imperial Crown,,with a lion above it, and a scroll below bearing the words "For Valour." Any additional' act of bravery is noted by a bar affixed, to the ribIron—red for the Army and blue for tho Navy—from which the Cross hangs. Though instituted in 1856, some of the original recipients are registered as from 1854, tho date being always that of the act* by which the honour is earned. ' . ■

.There were, at tho beginning of the present year, 153 surviving recipients of tho decoration.,' including veterans of the Crimea, tho Baltic, and Indian Mutiny. Three 'wore given for valour in tile New Zeaalnd campaigns against tho Maoris—Ensign E. M'Kcnna (York and Lancaster Regiment); Sergeant John Murray (Durham Light Infantry), Liou-tenant-Colo.iiel Wm. Temple, R.A.M.C.. O»o New Zcnlandor, Lieutenant W. J. Hardhatu, ai Petone, hus won. the V.C. —jA fche SQUth Afrioan War, in 1001.