Chapter XXXIII: Appendix: A

ROYAL WARRANTS.

The following are the principal Royal Warrants that have been issued in connection with the Victoria Cross.

WAR DEPARTMENT, _February 5th, 1856._

The Queen has been pleased, by an instrument under her Royal Sign
Manual, of which the following is a copy, to institute and create
a new Naval and Military decoration, to be styled and designated
“The Victoria Cross,” and to make the rules and regulations
therein set forth under which the said decoration shall be
conferred.

VICTORIA, by the grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, Queen, Defender of the Faith, etc., to all
to whom these presents shall come, Greeting.

Whereas, We, taking into Our Royal Consideration, that there
exists no means of adequately rewarding the individual gallant
services, either of officers of the lower grades in Our Naval
and Military Service, or of warrant and petty officers, seamen
and marines in Our Navy, and non-commissioned officers in Our
Army. And, whereas, the third class of Our Most Honourable Order
of the Bath is limited, except in very rare cases, to the higher
ranks of both services, and the granting of Medals, both in Our
Navy and Army, is only awarded for long service or meritorious
conduct, rather than for bravery in action or distinction before
an enemy, such cases alone excepted where a general medal is
granted for a particular action or campaign, or a clasp added to
the medal for some especial engagement, in both of which cases
all share equally in the boon, and those who, by their valour,
have particularly signalised themselves, remain undistinguished
from their comrades. Now, for the purpose of attaining an end so
desirable as that of rewarding individual instances of merit and
valour, We have instituted and created, and by these presents for
Us, our Heirs and Successors, institute and create a new Naval
and Military Decoration, which We are desirous should be highly
prized and eagerly sought after by the officers and men of Our
Naval and Military Services, and are graciously pleased to make,
ordain and establish the following rules and ordinances for the
government of the same, which shall from henceforth be inviolably
observed and kept.

_Firstly._ It is ordained that the distinction shall be styled
and designated “The Victoria Cross,” and shall consist of a
Maltese cross of Bronze, with Our Royal Crest in the centre, and
underneath with an escroll bearing the inscription “For Valour.”

_Secondly._ It is ordained that the Cross shall be suspended
from the left breast by a blue riband for the Navy, and by a red
riband for the Army.

_Thirdly._ It is ordained that the names of those upon whom We
may be pleased to confer the Decoration shall be published in the
_London Gazette_, and a registry thereof kept in the Office of
Our Secretary of State for War.

_Fourthly._ It is ordained that anyone who, after having received
the Cross, shall again perform an act of bravery, which, if he
had not received such Cross, would have entitled him to it, such
further act shall be recorded by a bar attached to the riband by
which the Cross is suspended, and for every additional act of
bravery an additional bar may be added.

_Fifthly._ It is ordained that the Cross shall only be awarded to
those officers and men who have served Us in the presence of the
enemy, and shall have then performed some signal act of valour or
devotion to their country.

_Sixthly._ It is ordained, with a view to placing all persons
on a perfectly equal footing in relation to eligibility for the
Decoration, that neither rank, nor long service, nor wounds, nor
any other circumstance or condition whatsoever, save the merit
of conspicuous bravery, shall be held to establish a sufficient
claim to the honour.

_Seventhly_. It is ordained that the Decoration may be
conferred on the spot where the act to be rewarded by the grant
of such Decoration has been performed, under the following
circumstances:--1. When the fleet or army in which such act has
been performed is under the eye and command of an admiral or
general officer commanding the forces. 2. Where the Naval or
Military force is under the eye and command of an admiral or
commodore commanding a squadron or detached Naval force, or of a
general commanding a corps or division or brigade on a distinct
and detached service, when such admiral or general officer shall
have the power of conferring the Decoration on the spot, subject
to confirmation by Us.

_Eighthly._ It is ordained where such act shall not have been
performed in sight of a commanding officer as aforesaid, then the
claimant for the honour shall prove the act to the satisfaction
of the captain or officer commanding his ship, or to the officer
commanding the regiment to which the claimant belongs, and such
captain, or such commanding officer, shall report the same
through the usual channel to the admiral or commodore commanding
the force employed in the service, or to the officer commanding
the forces in the field who shall call for such description and
attestation of the act as he may think requisite, and on approval
shall recommend the grant of the Decoration.

_Ninthly._ It is ordained that every person selected for the
Cross, under Rule 7, shall be publicly decorated before the Naval
or Military force or body to which he belongs, and with which the
act of bravery for which he is to be rewarded shall have been
performed, and his name shall be recorded in a general order
together with the cause of his especial distinction.

_Tenthly._ It is ordained that every person selected under Rule
8 shall receive his Decoration as soon as possible, and his name
shall likewise appear in a general order as above required, such
general order to be issued by the Naval or Military commander of
the forces employed on the Service.

_Eleventhly._ It is ordained that the general orders above
referred to shall from time to time be transmitted to Our
Secretary of State for War, to be laid before Us, and shall be by
him registered.

_Twelfthly._ It is ordained that, as cases may arise not falling
within the rules above specified, or in which a claim, though
well founded, may not have been established on the spot, We will,
on the joint submission of Our Secretary of State for War and of
Our Commander-in-Chief of Our Army, or on that of Our Lord High
Admiral, or Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty in the case of
the Navy, confer the Decoration, but never without conclusive
proofs of the performance of the act of bravery for which the
claim is made.

_Thirteenthly._ It is ordained that in the event of a gallant and
daring act having been performed by a squadron, ship’s company,
or detached body of seamen and marines not under fifty in number,
or by a brigade, regiment, troop or company in which the admiral,
general, or other officer commanding such forces may deem that
all are equally brave and distinguished, and that no special
selection can be made by them, then in such case the admiral,
general, or other officer commanding, may direct that for any
such body of seamen or marines, or for every troop or company of
soldiers, one officer shall be selected by the officers engaged
for the Decoration, and in like manner one petty officer or
non-commissioned officer shall be selected by the petty officers
and non-commissioned officers engaged, and two seamen or private
soldiers or marines shall be selected by the seamen, or private
soldiers, or marines engaged, respectively for the Decoration,
and the names of those selected shall be transmitted by the
senior officers in command of the Naval force, brigade, regiment,
troop, or company, to the admiral or general officer commanding,
who shall in due manner confer the Decoration as if the acts were
done under his own eye.

_Fourteenthly._ It is ordained that every warrant officer,
petty officer, seaman or marine, or non-commissioned officer,
or soldier who shall have received the Cross, shall, from the
date of the act by which the Decoration has been gained be
entitled to a special pension of £10 a year, and each additional
bar conferred under Rule 4 on such warrant or petty officers,
or non-commissioned officers or men, shall carry with it an
additional pension of £5 per annum.

_Fifteenthly._ In order to make such additional provision as
shall effectually preserve pure this most honourable distinction,
it is ordained that, if any person be convicted of treason,
cowardice, felony, or of any infamous crime, or if he be
accused of any such offence, and doth not after a reasonable
time surrender himself to be tried for the same, his name shall
forthwith be erased from the registry of individuals upon whom
the said Decoration shall have been conferred, by an especial
Warrant under Our Royal Sign Manual, and the pension conferred
under Rule 14 shall cease and determine from the date of such
Warrant. It is hereby further declared, that We, Our Heirs
and Successors, shall be the all judges of the circumstances
requiring such expulsion; moreover, We shall at all times have
power to restore such persons as may at any time have been
expelled, both to the enjoyment of the Decoration and Pension.

Given at Our Court at Buckingham Palace, this twenty-ninth day of
January, in the nineteenth year of Our Reign, and in the Year of
Our Lord, 1856.

By Her Majesty’s command,

(Signed) PANMURE.

_To Our Principal Secretary of State for War._

On August 10, 1858, the _London Gazette_ announced that by a Warrant under her Royal Sign Manual, her Majesty was pleased to direct that the Victoria Cross should be conferred, “subject to the rules and ordinances already made, on Officers and Men of Her Majesty’s Naval and Military Services, who may perform acts of conspicuous courage and bravery under circumstances of extreme danger, such as the occurrence of a fire on board ship, or of the foundering of a vessel at sea, or under any other circumstances in which, through the courage and devotion displayed, life or public property may be saved.”

As noted in chapter 15, it was under this clause that Private O’Hea, Dr. Douglas, and several others were gazetted.

* * * * *

Provision for the award of the V.C. to Messrs. Kavanagh, Mangles, and McDonell, who were civilians, was made by a supplemental Warrant, which was announced in the _Gazette_ on 8th July, 1859, in the following terms:--

The Queen having been graciously pleased by a Warrant under her
Royal Sign Manual, bearing date 13th December 1858, to declare
that Non-Military Persons who, as Volunteers, have borne arms
against the Mutineers, both at Lucknow and elsewhere, during
the late operations in India, shall be considered as eligible
to receive the decoration of the Victoria Cross, subject to the
rules and ordinances, etc. etc. … provided that it be established
in any case that the person was serving under the orders of a
General or other Officer in Command of Troops in the Field; her
Majesty has accordingly been pleased to signify her intention to
confer this high distinction on the undermentioned gentlemen,
etc. etc.

The Warrant given below, which was issued in 1881, speaks for itself. It merely restates in plain, unmistakable language the purport of the original Warrant of 1856.

_Royal Warrant.--Qualification required for the Decoration of the
Victoria Cross._

(This Warrant applies also to the Auxiliary and Reserve Forces.)

VICTORIA R.

Whereas doubts have arisen as to the qualification required for
the decoration of the Victoria Cross, and whereas the description
of such qualification in Our Warrant of 29th January, 1856, is
not uniform. Our will and pleasure is that the qualification
shall be “conspicuous bravery or devotion to the country in the
presence of the enemy,” and that Our Warrant of 29th January,
1856, shall be read and interpreted accordingly.

It is Our further will and pleasure that Officers and Men of
Our Auxiliary and Reserve Forces (Naval and Military) shall be
eligible for the decoration of the Victoria Cross under the
conditions of Our said Warrant, as amended by this Our Warrant.

Given at Our Court at Osborne, this 23rd day of April, 1881, in
the forty-fourth year of Our Reign.

By Her Majesty’s Command,

HUGH C. E. CHILDERS.

In the same year, 1881, appeared another Warrant which included as eligible for the Decoration members of the Indian Ecclesiastical Establishment, provided that they were serving under a general or other officer in command of troops in the field. By this provision the Rev. J. W. Adams was gazetted V.C.

* * * * *

Under a later Warrant, dated July 18, 1898, authority was given to increase the Victoria Cross pension from £10 to £50 a year, the condition to be satisfied in such cases being inability to earn a livelihood, in consequence of age or infirmity occasioned by causes beyond an Annuitant’s control.

The last Royal Warrant to be issued bears date August 8, 1902, and runs as follows:--

The King has been graciously pleased to approve of the Decoration of the Victoria Cross being delivered to the _representatives_ of the undermentioned officers, non-commissioned officers and men who fell during the recent operations in South Africa, in the performance of acts of valour which would, in the opinion of the Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in the Field, have entitled them to be recommended for that distinction had they survived:--(Here follow the names of Captain Younger, Lieut. Digby-Jones, and others.)