Unrewarded Courage : Acts of Valour that Were Denied the Victoria Cross
Usually shipped within 24 hours
UK deliveries from £4.95
Delivery & Returns
Delivery & Returns
We use the Royal Mail, DHL Express or UPS for our customers. For UK addresses, deliveries under 10kg are a standard £4.95 via Royal Mail Tracked 48 Service. For orders over 10kg and overseas customers, postage is calculated for you at checkout once you have entered your postal address. This price, does not include any potential custom charges that may apply, depending on the product or destination, as every country has very different import duties / taxes. Online exclusive products (such as trainers) will be delivered to you directly from the printer, separate from other items in your order, but your postage fee covers ALL items in your order.
If you are unhappy with your purchase, please email shop@tankmuseum.org within fourteen (14) working days of receiving your goods, and return it to us at the address below, in its original condition, unopened (with any seals and shrink-wrap intact) and we will issue you a full refund or replace it. Goods must be returned at your own cost. If the item is faulty, you do not need to return it, we will send you a replacement free of charge.
Unrewarded Courage : Acts of Valour that Were Denied the Victoria C...
Description
Description
By Brian Best
Hardback
The Victoria Cross is the most exclusive and prestigious of all gallantry awards. In order to retain this exclusivity, the standard of courage, endeavour or sacrifice required for a recommendation to be accepted for the award of the VC must be of the highest possible order.
This has meant that many extremely courageous acts have failed to be rewarded with the VC, even though they appear to be just as remarkable in the level of danger and daring as some of those which were accepted for the medal.
The reason for this, is that the awarding of the VC, indeed even the acknowledgement from a commanding officer that an individual's action merits submission to the selection board, is entirely subjective. What one general might consider to be of exceptional valour might be regarded by another senior officer as merely a soldier carrying out his duty. When Trooper Clement Roberts rode into the thick of battle in South Africa to rescue a young war reporter who had been thrown from his horse, little did he know that he was saving the life of Britain's future wartime Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill.
Recommended for the VC, Roberts was eventually awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal. Similarly, following the airborne operation at Arnhem in the Second World War, Captain Michael Dauncey was recommended by three other officers for the award of the Victoria Cross. These appeals, however, were rejected.
The reasons behind the failure to award Lieutenant Colonel Paddy Mayne, a member of 1st SAS Regiment, the VC, despite repeated calls for his actions to be recognised in such a manner, was the subject of an Early Day Motion put before the House of Commons as recently as June 2005. Following the airborne operation at Arnhem in the Second World War, Captain Michael Dauncey was recommended by three other officers for the award of the Victoria Cross. These appeals, however, were rejected.
