The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993)
military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993)
other ranks of the
British Armed Forces
The British Armed Forces, also known as His Majesty's Armed Forces, are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, s ...
, and formerly awarded to officers of other
Commonwealth countries.
The MC is granted in recognition of "an act or acts of exemplary gallantry during active operations against the enemy on land" to all members of the British Armed Forces of any rank. In 1979, the Queen approved a proposal that a number of awards, including the Military Cross, could be recommended posthumously.
History
The award was created on 28 December 1914 for
commissioned officers
An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service.
Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent context ...
of the substantive rank of
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
or below and for
warrant officer
Warrant officer (WO) is a rank or category of ranks in the armed forces of many countries. Depending on the country, service, or historical context, warrant officers are sometimes classified as the most junior of the commissioned ranks, the mos ...
s. The first 98 awards were gazetted on 1 January 1915, to 71 officers, and 27 warrant officers. Although posthumous recommendations for the Military Cross were unavailable until 1979, the first awards included seven posthumous awards, with the word 'deceased' after the name of the recipient, from recommendations that had been raised before the recipients died of wounds or lost their lives from other causes.
[
Awards are announced in ''The London Gazette'', apart from most honorary awards to allied forces in keeping with the usual practice not to gazette awards to foreigners.][Abbott & Tamplin, ''British Gallantry Awards'', 2nd edition. p. 219.]
From August 1916, recipients of the Cross were entitled to use the post-nominal letters
Post-nominal letters, also called post-nominal initials, post-nominal titles, designatory letters or simply post-nominals, are letters placed after a person's name to indicate that the individual holds a position, academic degree, accreditation, ...
MC, and bars could be awarded for further acts of gallantry meriting the award, with a silver rosette worn on the ribbon when worn alone to denote the award of each bar.
From September 1916, members of the Royal Naval Division
The 63rd (Royal Naval) Division was a United Kingdom infantry division of the First World War. It was originally formed as the Royal Naval Division at the outbreak of the war, from Royal Navy and Royal Marine reservists and volunteers, who wer ...
, who served alongside the Army on the Western Front, were made eligible for military decorations, including the Military Cross, for the war's duration.[Abbott & Tamplin, British Gallantry Awards, 2nd edition. page 217.] Naval officers serving with the division received 140 MCs and eight second award bars.[
In June 1917, eligibility was extended to temporary majors, not above the substantive rank of captain. Substantive majors were made eligible in 1953.][Abbott & Tamplin, ''British Gallantry Awards'', 2nd edition. page 218.]
In 1931, the award was extended to equivalent ranks in the Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
for actions on the ground.
After the Second World War, most Commonwealth countries created their own honours system and no longer recommended British awards. The last Military Cross awards for the Canadian Army were for Korea. The last four Australian Army Military Cross awards were promulgated in ''The London Gazette'' on 1 September 1972 for Vietnam as was the last New Zealand Army Military Cross award, which was promulgated on 25 September 1970. Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
and New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
have now created their own gallantry awards under their own honours systems.
Since the 1993 review of the honours system, as part of the drive to remove distinctions of rank in awards for bravery the Military Medal
The Military Medal (MM) was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army and other arms of the armed forces, and to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, below commissioned rank, for bravery in battle on land. The award ...
, formerly the third-level decoration for other ranks, was discontinued. The MC is now the third-level award for all ranks of the British Armed Forces for "exemplary gallantry" on land, not to the standard required to receive the Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...
(for "the most conspicuous bravery") or the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross
The Conspicuous Gallantry Cross (CGC) is a second level military decoration of the British Armed Forces. Created in 1993 and first awarded in 1995, it was instituted after a review of the British honours system to remove distinctions of rank in t ...
.
Description
The Military Cross was designed by Henry Farnham Burke
Sir Henry Farnham Burke, (1859–1930) was a long-serving Anglo-Irish officer of arms at the College of Arms in London.
Biography
A son of Sir Bernard Burke (who was Ulster King of Arms from 1853 until his death in 1892), Henry Burke was app ...
,["The Military Cross: The New British War Decoration", ''Illustrated London News'', vol. 146, no. 3959 (6 March 1915): 1.
][Hoyte C. Evans, "Kitchener and the Military Cross", ''Journal of the Orders and Medals Society of America'' (March–April 1957): 14–15, accessed 3 November 2020, http://www.omsa.org/files/jomsa_arch/Splits/1957/87251_JOMSA_1957_March-April_13.pdf] while its ribbon was created by Victoria Ponsonby, Baroness Sysonby
Victoria ("Ria") Lily Hegan Ponsonby, Baroness Sysonby (1874 – 2 June 1955), was a British cookbook author with an "eager and unconventional mind" whose recipes were popular during the 1930s and 1940s. Her friend Osbert Sitwell described her book ...
.[
In the ''Medal Yearbook 2015'' it is described as follows:][John Mussell, Philip Mussell, ''Medal Yearbook 2015''. page 87.]
* 46 mm maximum height, 44 mm maximum width.
* Ornamental silver cross with straight arms terminating in broad finials, suspended from a plain suspension bar.
* Obverse decorated with imperial crowns, with the Royal Cypher in centre.
* Reverse is plain. From 1938 until 1957 the year of award was engraved on lower limb of cross,[Peter Duckers, ''British Gallantry Awards 1855–2000'', pp. 26-27.] and since 1984 it has been awarded named to the recipient.[
* The ribbon width is 32 mm and consists of three equal vertical moire stripes of white, purple, and white.
* Ribbon bar denoting a further award is plain silver, with a crown in the centre.
]
Recipients
Numbers awarded
Since 1914, over 52,000 Military Crosses and 3,717 bars have been awarded.[ The dates below reflect the relevant ''London Gazette'' entries:
In addition, approximately 375 MCs have been awarded since 1979, including awards for ]Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
, the Falklands, and the wars in the Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bod ...
, Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
, and Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
.
The above table includes awards to the Dominions:
In all, 3,727 Military Crosses have been awarded to those serving with Canadian forces, including 324 first bars and 18 second bars.
A total of 2,930 were awarded to Australians, in addition to 188 first bars and four second bars. Of these, 2,403 MCs, 170 first Bars and four second Bars were for World War I.
Over 500 MCs were awarded to New Zealanders during World War I and over 250 in World War II. The most recent awards were for service in Vietnam.
The honorary MC awards were made to servicemen from fifteen Allied countries in World War I, and nine in World War II.[
]
Notable awards
* During World War I, Acting Captain Francis Wallington
Francis Victor Wallington MC & Three Bars (16 October 1891 – 15 February 1971) was a decorated British Army officer. He was the first of four soldiers to be awarded the Military Cross four times, all in the First World War.
Military career
Wa ...
of the Royal Field Artillery was the first person to be awarded the MC and three bars when he was invested with his third bar on 10 July 1918 (gazetted 13 September 1918: he had obtained the first three awards as a second lieutenant).[Scott Addington]
''For Conspicuous Gallantry... Winners of the Military Cross and Bar during the Great War. Volume 1 – Two Bars & Three Bars''
Troubador Publishing Ltd, 2006, pp.343–352. Three other officers were subsequently awarded a third bar, Percy Bentley
Percy Bentley (13 December 1906 − 25 March 1982) was an Australian rules footballer in the (then) Victorian Football League.
Bentley was a strong ruckman and great tactician who was a key player and coach for the Richmond Football Club duri ...
, Humphrey Arthur Gilkes
Humphrey Arthur Gilkes MC & Three Bars (13 October 1895 – 11 July 1945) was a British soldier and medical doctor. He is one of four soldiers to have been awarded the Military Cross four times, all in the First World War. He was a medical offi ...
and Charles Gordon Timms, all of whose awards appeared in a supplement to the ''London Gazette'' on 31 January 1919.
* For their key roles during World War I, the cities of Verdun
Verdun (, , , ; official name before 1970 ''Verdun-sur-Meuse'') is a large city in the Meuse department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department.
Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital ...
and Ypres
Ypres ( , ; nl, Ieper ; vls, Yper; german: Ypern ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though
the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality c ...
were awarded the Military Cross, in September 1916 and February 1920 respectively.[Abbott & Tamplin, British Gallantry Awards, 2nd edition. pp 220-222.] In May 1920, Field Marshal French presented the decoration to Ypres in a special ceremony in the city.
* During World War II Captain Sam Manekshaw
Field Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw (3 April 1914 – 27 June 2008), widely known as Sam Manekshaw and Sam Bahadur ("Sam the Brave"), was the Chief of the Army Staff of the Indian Army during the Indo-Pakistani War of ...
, Indian Army
The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...
(who eventually rose to the rank of Field Marshal), was leading a counter-offensive operation against the invading Japanese Army in Burma. During the course of the offensive, he was hit by a burst of machine-gun fire and severely wounded in the stomach. Major General D.T. Cowan spotted Manekshaw holding on to life and was aware of his valour in face of stiff resistance from the Japanese. Fearing the worst, Major General Cowan quickly pinned his own Military Cross ribbon on to Manekshaw saying, "A dead person cannot be awarded a Military Cross."
* The first posthumous Military Cross was that awarded to Captain Herbert Westmacott, Grenadier Guards
"Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it."
, colors =
, colors_label =
, march = Slow: " Scipio"
, mascot =
, equipment =
, equipment ...
for gallantry in Northern Ireland during the period 1 February 1980 to 30 April 1980.
* The first woman to be awarded the Military Cross was Private Michelle Norris of the Royal Army Medical Corps
The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps a ...
, while attached to The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment
The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (or PWRR, also known as 'The Tigers') is the senior English line infantry regiment of the British Army, second in the line infantry order of precedence to the Royal Regiment of Scotland and part of the Q ...
for her actions in Iraq on 11 June 2006. Norris was awarded her medal personally by Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...
on 21 March 2007.
* Able Seaman Kate Nesbitt
Kate Louise Nesbitt MC (born 21 April 1988) is a pharmacy technician in the Royal Navy. Nesbitt was the first female member of the Royal Navy, and the second woman in the British Armed Forces, to be awarded the Military Cross (MC). The award was ...
, second woman, first in the Royal Navy, for acts in Afghanistan in March 2009 as a Medical Assistant attached to 1 RIFLES, 3 Commando Brigade.
* Sergeant Michael Lockett
Sergeant Michael Christopher Lockett (11 June 1980 – 21 September 2009) was a British soldier, killed in action in Afghanistan aged 29. An improvised explosive device which he was investigating exploded injuring Lockett and two other sol ...
MC was the first holder of the MC to be killed in action since World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
See also
* :Recipients of the Military Cross
* British and Commonwealth orders and decorations
This article concerns the orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms awarded by the sovereign in right of each nation.
Awards are listed by order of wear.
Antigua and Barbuda
* Order of the National Hero
* Order of the Nation
* Order of Me ...
* List of British gallantry awards for the Iraq War
A list of British awards for gallantry in the Iraq War, awarded between 2003 and 2010. Apart from appointments to purely military orders, only gallantry awards have been included and only those that allow post-nominal letters (this excludes appoin ...
References
Bibliography
* Abbott, Peter and Tamplin, John. ''British Gallantry Awards'', 2nd edition (1981). Nimrod Dix and Co., London. .
* Duckers, Peter. ''British Gallantry Awards 1855–2000'' (2011). Shire Publications, Risborough, Buckinghamshire. .
* Mussell, J. (ed.). ''Medals Yearbook 2015'' (2014). Token Publishing, Honiton, Devon. .
External links
Original Royal Warrant for the MC
''Supplement to London Gazette'', 1 January 1915
Current Royal Warrant for the MC
''Supplement to London Gazette'', 17 September 2002
Database of Australian Awardees
at the Australian Government Honour
website
Search recommendations for the Military Cross
The UK National Archives
*
North East Medals
{{South African military decorations and medals
Courage awards
Military awards and decorations of the United Kingdom