Victoria Cross for Australia
The Victoria Cross for Australia was created by letters patent signed by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on 15 January 1991. It is listed equal first with the British Victoria Cross on the Australian Order of Wear. The Governor-General of Australia awards the VC for Australia, with the approval of the Sovereign, on the recommendation of the Minister for Defence. The last recipient was Warrant Officer Keith Payne, for gallantry on 24 May 1969 during the Vietnam War.
About Victoria Cross for Australia in brief
The Victoria Cross for Australia was created by letters patent signed by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on 15 January 1991. It is listed equal first with the British Victoria Cross on the Australian Order of Wear with precedence in Australia over all orders, decorations and medals. The first medal was awarded on 16 January 2009 to Trooper Mark Donaldson, for the rescue of a coalition forces interpreter from heavy fire in Oruzgan Province in Afghanistan. The Governor-General of Australia awards the VC for Australia, with the approval of the Sovereign, on the recommendation of the Minister for Defence. The last recipient was Warrant Officer Keith Payne, for gallantry on 24 May 1969 during the Vietnam War. It was originally intended that the Victoria Crosses would be cast from the bronze cascabels of two cannon that were captured from the Russians at the Siege of Sevastopol. The barrels of the cannon used to cast the medals are stationed outside the Officers’ Mess, at the Royal Artillery Barracks at Woolwich. The remaining portion of the only remaining cascabel, weighing 10 kilograms, is stored in a vault maintained by 15 Regiment, Royal Logistic Corps at MoD Donnington, and can be removed only under armed guard. The Canadian version has a different inscription, as well as being cast from three groupings of metals. The Australian and New Zealand Victoria Crosse are made from the same gunmetal as the originals. Sixty-four awards were for action in the First World War, nine of them for action during the Gallipoli Campaign. Twenty medals were awarded for action in the Second World War and the other medals were for the Second Boer War, Russian Civil War and in the Vietnamese War.
Since the end of the second World War most but not all Commonwealth countries have introduced their own honours systems, separate from the British Honours System. Australia became the first Commonwealth realm to institute a Victoria Cross award in its own Honours system. Although it is a separate award, the award’s appearance is identical to its counterpart in the British counterpart. The award has been changed from FOROUR VALOUR to VICTORIA CROSS for Australia in 1993, when Queen Elizabeth II as Queen of Canada signed Letters Patent creating the Canadian Victoria Cross. Each country’s honours system is published in each country’s gazette or other publication. The Victoria Cross awards are unique in their awards of bravery and are their own highest awards of their honours. The awards for Australia and Canada were named in honour of Britain’s Victoria Cross, but each country has its own awards for bravery and self-sacrifice. A person to whom the VictoriaCross for Australia has been awarded is entitled to the post nominals VC placed after the name of the person’s name. The decoration may be awarded to members of the Australian Defence Force and to other persons determined by the Australian Minister for defence. The original medal was given to 96 Australians; 91 of these were received while serving as members of Australian forces; five were received by former members of South African or British forces.
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This page is based on the article Victoria Cross for Australia published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 03, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
