The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (Princess Louise's)
'Sans Peur' 'Ne Obliviscaris'
The Victoria Cross - Background
The Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy. It is awarded by the British monarch to British and Commonwealth forces.
Definition of Gallantry:
To date (July 2007), in all branches of the British and Commonwealth forces, there have been 1352 VC medals awarded, but 3 men have won it twice, this makes a total of 1355. There have been 158 Scottish-born Victoria Cross recipients and it is believed that five of the first ten Victoria Crosses awarded went to Scottish soldiers.
The first recipient of the Victoria Cross was an Irishman, 20 year old Royal Navy mate, Lt Charles Davis Lucas. He was born in Drumargole, County Armagh, in 19 February 1834.
It was awarded to him in June 1854 for his action on board "HMS Hecla" while bombarding Bomarsund, a fort in the Aland Islands, Finland, during the Crimean War in the Baltic.
The Victoria Cross is not a Maltese Cross, but is more accurately described as a cross patté.
All Victoria Crosses are now issued with a 1.5 inch wide Crimson Ribbon. At one time they had dark blue ribbons for the Royal Navy and crimson for the Army. But, in 1918, at the time of formation of the Royal Air Force, King Edward approved that from that date a crimson ribbon would be used for all arms of the services.
The Cross is 1.375 inches wide and has a total weight of 0.87 ounces.
The front of the bar is adorned with laurel leaves and the back is engraved with the recipients details. The date of the act of valour is engraved in the centre circle. Details on the suspender bar include the number, rank, name and regiment, or other description of the recipient.
The Victoria Cross was designed by H.H. Armstead, an employee of the jewellers, Messrs. Hancocks and Co., Burlington Gardens London W1, who still supply them. The design of the Cross first received royal approval.
Originally, the metallic materials used in the construction of the Victoria Cross came from gunmetal taken from Russian guns captured in the Crimean War, but since the end of the First World War it has been made from metal taken from captured Chinese guns.
List of 16 soldiers of the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders who have won the Victoria Cross
8 of these medals are on display in the Regimental Museum in Stirling Castle
|Lance Corporal||DUNLAY, John..... details ......||16 November 1857||Lucknow, India|
|Captain||STEWART, William George Drummond..... details ......||16 November 1857||Lucknow, India|
|Private||GRANT, Peter..... details ......||16 November 1857||Lucknow, India|
|Private||MacKAY, David ..... details ......||16 November 1857||Lucknow, India|
|Colour Sergeant||MUNRO, James..... details ......||16 November 1857||Lucknow, India|
|Sergeant||PATON, John..... details ......||16 November 1857||Lucknow, India|
|Lieutenant & Adjutant||McBEAN, William..... details ......||11 March 1858||Lucknow, India|
|Captain||LIDDELL, John Aiden..... details ......||31 July 1915||La Panne, Belgium|
|Lieutenant||GRAHAM, John Reginald Noble..... details ......||22 April 1917||Istabulat, Mesopotamia|
|2nd Lieutenant||HENDERSON, Arthur, MC..... details ......||23 April 1917||Fontaine-les-Croiselles, France|
|2nd Lieutenant||BUCHAN, John Crawford..... details ......||21 March 1918||Marteville, France|
|Lieutenant||MacINTYRE, David Lowe..... details ......||24-27 August 1918||Henin, France|
|Lieutenant||BISSETT, William Davidson..... details ......||25 October 1918||Maing, France|
|Lieutenant Colonel||CAMPBELL, Lorne MacLaine, DSO, OBE, TD ..... details ......||6 April 1943||Wadi Akarit, Tunisia|
|Major||ANDERSON, John Thompson McKellar, DSO, TD..... details ......||23 April 1943||Longstop Hill, Tunisia|
|Major||MUIR, Kenneth (posthumous)..... details ......||23 September 1950||Hill 282, Songju, Korea|
Number of VC's Awarded
|1856 - 1913||522|
|1914 - 1919||634 - including 2 bars|
|1920 - 1938||5|
|1939 - 1945||182 - including 1 bar|
|1946 - to date||12|
|Total Awarded (July 2007)||1355|
Number of VC's Awarded
|Fleet Air Arm
Royal Naval Air Service
Royal Naval Reserve
Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve
|British Army||838 - including 2 bars|
|Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Royal Auxiliary Air Force
Royal Flying Corps
|New Zealand Forces||22 - including 1 bar|
|South African Forces||28|
|King's African Rifles||1|
|Honourable East India Company
|American Unknown Warrior||1|
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