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"For Valour"

"It was a thick, heavy morning, full of agitation for the coming great event of the day, the distribution of the first Victoria Crosses. Breakfasted early, we went down and mounted our horses, I in my full uniform and riding Sunset. The whole was conducted in full state. Several interesting circumstances combined to make this day an important one. It was, in the first place, the solemn inauguration of the new and honourable order of valour, The Victoria Cross."
Excerpt from the private diaries of Queen Victoria, 26 June 1857.

Queen Victoria

The Victoria Cross rose from the ashes of the Crimean War which the United Kingdom and France fought against Russia from October 1853 to March 1856. The VC was to be the great leveller, a means by which a passionate Queen could render immaterial distinctions of class and rank amongst her soldiers when recognising valour. Something she knew the United Kingdom had so far failed to acknowledge.

Corporal Cameron Baird VC

The French had their ‘Legion of Honour’, a prestigious award instituted by Napoleon in 1803, which could be bestowed on a soldier of any rank for acts of gallantry or devotion to duty. As allies in the Crimean War, the British had noticed this French initiative. The only award the United Kingdom had which was close to this was the Order of the Bath. However, only senior officers could be admitted to the Order. Junior officers and lower ranked men could only expect to receive a promotion in the field or a mention in the General’s despatches, but even that was rare.

There was growing awareness of this inequity back home, mostly due to the reporting of war correspondents such as William Howard Russell of The Times. Queen Victoria had taken note as had a Liberal Member of Parliament, Captain Thomas Scobell. In December 1854 Scobell made a famous speech to the House of Commons. In it he said:’ An Order of Merit should be awarded to persons serving in the army or navy for distinguished and prominent personal gallantry. Every grade and individual from the highest to the lowest may be admissible.’

About a month later the Secretary of State for War, the Duke of Newcastle, added that it should be ‘… a new decoration, open to all ranks, for a single act of valour in the presence of the enemy.’ Shortly after this, Lord Panmure, the new Secretary of State for War, took up the challenge and began working with Queen Victoria’s husband Prince Albert to design this new award.

The Queen herself took great interest; her personal diaries show just how much she cared about her fighting forces. She wrote about the men almost every day both during and after the war. Queen Victoria felt so strongly about recognition for her forces that she intervened in the design of the Cross.

Initially, the words to be inscribed on the medal were to be ‘For the Brave’. The Queen changed the inscription to ‘For Valour’.
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Queen Victoria made this change because the word ‘valour’ speaks of courage and boldness in battle, while ‘brave’ reflects courage or endurance in any situation.

Corporal Benjamin Roberts-Smith VC

Since its inception, 1361 Victoria Crosses have been awarded to 1358 individual men. Three soldiers have been awarded it twice, two British servicemen and one New Zealander. Of those 1361 issued, only 101 have been Australian. There were six Australian VCs awarded in the Boer War, sixty-four in World War I, two in North Russia, twenty-two in World War II, four in Vietnam and four in Afghanistan.

As the twentieth century progressed and more people were sent to war than ever before, fewer VCs were granted. Since the end of World War II, only eleven Victoria Crosses had been awarded worldwide. Now after nearly eight decades, Teddy Sheean joins their numbers.

The Victoria Cross, Australia Remembers

Adapted extract from The Victoria Cross, Australia Remembers by Michael Madden, (Big Sky Publishing 2018) first published as a history of Australia’s pre-eminent award for acts of bravery in the face of the enemy and its highest military honour, the Victoria Cross (VC). Since 1856 when the award was created by Queen Victoria, 101 Australian servicemen have been recognised with the Cross. This book looks at the first 100 recipients and their families.
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Edward "Teddy" Sheean's story aboard HMAS Armidale will be published in 2021 by
Big Sky Publishing and authored by Dr Tom Lewis OAM