Honours and Medals — The George Cross (G.C.) — Great Britain

The George Cross

The George Cross was instituted by Royal Warrant on the 24th September 1940.

King George VI had been greatly moved by the fortitude and courage displayed by many civilians and by those engaged in bomb and mine disposal duties during the Blitz, and wanted these outstanding acts of bravery to be suitably recognised. Several awards already existed for which civilians were eligible and which could also be given to servicemen and women for acts of great heroism performed in circumstances other than battle. These awards included the Empire Gallantry Medal, the Albert Medals for Saving Life on Land and at Sea and the Edward Medals for Mines and Industry, but none matched the distinction of the Victoria Cross. The King, with his advisors, decided to create a new decoration which would be equivalent in status with the VC.

The Empire Gallantry Medal was abolished and surviving holders, together with those who had won it posthumously since the outbreak of war, had their medals exchanged for the George Cross. Awards of the Albert and Edwards Medals continued, but by the early 1970's it was acknowledged that there was little public appreciation of their importance. No further awards were made, and in 1971 it was announced that surviving holders of these medals would have their awards translated to the George Cross.

The George Cross was designed by Percy Metcalfe, CVO, RDI. and is made of silver by the Royal Mint. The colour of the ribbon is officially described as 'Garter' blue. The inscription on the obverse is: "For Gallantry".

The recipient's title, full name, rank and, where appropriate, unit, are inscribed on the reverse of the cross together with the date. The date inscribed on the GC is the date of the award and not the date, or dates, of the deed.


Obverse View	Reverse View

The most recent GC recipient is Christopher Finney, GC. 31st October 2003. Trooper, Blues & Royals, Household Cavalry, Rescuing fellow soldier. Born 1984, Gazette 2003.

'Trooper Christopher Finney received the honour for gallantry after he rescued one of his troop and tried in vain to reach another soldier when their two armoured vehicles were mistakenly hit by US warplanes around 25 miles (40km) north of Basra, Iraq.

The young soldier, of the Blues and Royals, was only 18 with less than a year's army experience at the time of the incident.'

My thanks to Terry Hissey at the George Cross Database for updating me on the award to trooper Finney.

The youngest GC by direct award was to Mr John Bamford, 15 years and 7 months, Nottingham, 19th October 1952.

Women have always been eligible for the George Cross, and the following have received the award:

Lieutenant O M C Sansom (later Mrs Hallowes), MBE, WTS (FANY) Special Operations Executive, October 1942 - May 1945
Ensign V R E Szabo, WTS (FANY) SOE, April 1944 -February 1945
Assistant Section Officer N Inayat-Khan, Women's Auxiliary Air Force/SOE, 16 June 1943 - 12 September 1944
Miss B J Harrison, Air Stewardess, British Overseas Airway Corporation, Heathrow Airport, 8th April 1968

The total number of awards to date is 401 (November 2003).

There was no provision for the payment of any annuity contained in the original Warrant. However, from 4th February 1965 living holders of the GC were granted a tax-free annuity of £100. The figure remained at £100 until 15th August 1995 when it was raised to £1300.

The Imperial War Museum has a very fine collection of Victoria Crosses and George Crosses. The new permanent gallery devoted to displaying these medals was opened in May 1997. In addition to all the VCs and GCs in the Museum's collections, the display includes much interesting personal material belonging to the Museum relating to several recipients of these two awards whose medals are held in other collections.

See related resources on the World Wide Web section for a link to the Imperial War Museum.