<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<document>
<title>Victoria Cross for Australia</title>
<authors>Wikipedia</authors>
<publisher>wikipedia.org</publisher>
<publishedplace>network</publishedplace>
<publishedyear>2010</publishedyear>
<edition></edition>
<category>Victoria Cross</category>
<section id="43439" fatherid="0" title="" lv="" priority="-1" level="1">
The Victoria Cross for Australia is the highest award in the Australian Honours System, superseding the Victoria Cross for issue to Australians. The Victoria Cross for Australia is the "decoration for according recognition to persons who in the presence of the enemy, perform acts of the most conspicuous gallantry, or daring or pre-eminent acts of valour or self-sacrifice or display extreme devotion to duty."Commonwealth Gazette No. S25, 4 February 1991, page 1.
The Victoria Cross for Australia was created by letters patent signed by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on 15 January 1991. As the highest Australian award, it is listed first on the Australian Order of Wear with precedence in Australia over all orders, decorations and medals.The order of wearing Australian honours and awards, Commonwealth Gazette No. S192, 28 September 2007, page 1.  The decoration may be awarded to members of the Australian Defence Force and to other persons determined by the Australian Minister for Defence.Victoria Cross Regulations, Commonwealth Gazette No. S25, 4 February 1991, page 2, Regulation 5. A person to whom the Victoria Cross for Australia has been awarded is entitled to the post nominals VC placed after the person’s name.Victoria Cross Regulations, Commonwealth Gazette No. S25, 4 February 1991, page 2, Regulation 8.
The Governor-General of Australia awards the Victoria Cross for Australia, with the approval of the Sovereign, on the recommendation of the Minister for Defence. A Victoria Cross for Australia is usually presented by the Governor-General of Australia and occasionally by the Queen of Australia during an investiture ceremony. As with the awarding of the original VC, recipients are entitled to an annuity from the government. 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. Donaldson's award came almost 40 years after Warrant Officer Keith Payne became the last Australian to be awarded the (original) Victoria Cross for gallantry on 24 May 1969 during the Vietnam War.

</section>
<section id="43440" fatherid="0" title="History" lv="" priority="-2" level="1">
<section id="43441" fatherid="43440" title="Original medal" lv="" priority="1" level="2">
On 29 January 1856, Queen Victoria signed the Royal Warrant that officially instituted the Victoria Cross. The Warrant was backdated to 1854 to recognise acts of valour committed during the Crimean War.Ashcroft, Michael, pp. 7–10 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.Beharry, Johnson, p. 359 However, historian John Glanfield has proven, through the use of X-rays of older Victoria Crosses, that the metal used for the Victoria Crosses is in fact from antique Chinese guns, and not of Russian origin.
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 (358 oz), is stored in a vault maintained by 15 Regiment, Royal Logistic Corps at Donnington, Telford, and can be removed only under armed guard. It is estimated that 80 to 85 more Victoria Crosses could be cast from this source. A single company of jewellers, Hancocks of London, established in 1849, has been responsible for the production of every medal since its inception. Both the Australian and New Zealand Victoria Crosses are made from the same gunmetal as the originals.
The original medal was awarded to 96 Australians; 90 of these were received for actions while serving with Australian units; six were received for actions while serving with other units. 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 action in the Second Boer War, Russian Civil War and in the Vietnam War. The last recipient was Warrant Officer Keith Payne, for gallantry on 24 May 1969 during the Vietnam War. Payne was awarded the medal for instigating a rescue of more than 40 men.

</section>
<section id="43442" fatherid="43440" title="Separate Commonwealth awards" lv="" priority="2" level="2">
In the past 70 years several Commonwealth countries have introduced their own honours systems, completely separate from the British Honours System. Australia, Canada and New Zealand have each introduced their own decorations for gallantry and bravery, replacing British decorations such as the Military Cross with their own awards. Most Commonwealth realms still recognise some form of the Victoria Cross as their highest decoration for valour.  The Gazette containing the most up-to-date Order of Precedence.
With the issuing of letters patent by the Queen of Australia on 15 January 1991, Australia became the first Commonwealth Realm to institute a separate Victoria Cross award in its own honours system. Although it is a separate award, the Victoria Cross for Australia's appearance is identical to its British counterpart. Canada followed suit when in 1993, Queen Elizabeth II as Queen of Canada signed Letters Patent creating the Canadian Victoria Cross. The Canadian version has a different inscription, as well as being created from a different unspecified metal. The legend has been changed from FOR VALOUR to the Latin PRO VALORE. Although one Canadian VC has been cast, none have been awarded. In 1999, New Zealand created the Victoria Cross for New Zealand, identical to the Australian and British Victoria Crosses, and this has been awarded once, on 2 July 2007 to Corporal Willie Apiata.

</section>
</section>
<section id="43443" fatherid="0" title="Appearance" lv="" priority="-3" level="1">
The Victoria Cross for Australia is identical to the original design. It is a "cross pattée 41 millimetres high, 36 millimetres wide. The arms of the Cross have raised edges. The obverse bears a Crowned Lion standing on the Royal Crown with the words 'FOR VALOUR' inscribed on a semi-circular scroll below the Crown. The reverse bears raised edges on the arms of the cross and the date of the act for which the Cross is awarded is engraved within the circle in the centre.Victoria Cross Determination, Commonwealth Gazette No. S315, 18 November 1991, p. 1 Item 1.Original Warrant, Clause 1: 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". The inscription was originally to have been FOR BRAVERY, until it was changed on the recommendation of Queen Victoria, who thought some might erroneously consider that only the recipients of the Victoria Cross were brave in battle. The decoration, suspension bar, and link weigh about 27 grams (0.87 troy ounces).Ashcroft, Michael, p. 16
The cross is suspended by a ring from a seriffed "V" to a bar ornamented with laurel leaves, through which the ribbon passes. The reverse of the suspension bar is engraved with the recipient's name, rank, number and unit. On the reverse of the medal is a circular panel, on which the date of the act for which it was awarded is engraved in the centre. The ribbon is crimson, and is 38 millimetres (1.5 inches) wide. Although the warrants state the colour as red, it is defined by most commentators as "crimson" or "wine-red".

</section>
<section id="43444" fatherid="0" title="Conferment" lv="" priority="-4" level="1">
The Victoria Cross for Australia is awarded for "... most conspicuous gallantry, or some daring or pre-eminent act of valour or self-sacrifice, or extreme devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy or belligerents."
Awards are granted by the Governor-General with the approval of the Sovereign. The warrant for the Victoria Cross for Australia differs markedly from the Imperial warrant. The new warrant does not specify any particular process for recommendations, though it is expected that any recommendation will pass through the military hierarchy to the Minister for Defence.Macklin, Robert, p. 252 The new warrant also allows for "other persons determined by the Minister for Defence for the purposes of this regulation." Author Robert Macklin has speculated that this has opened up the field of eligibility to policemen and women or civilians during a terrorist act. He goes on to say that by "separating the VC from its traditional roots the Hawke government can be accused, with some justice, of devaluing the honour ..."Macklin, Robert, p. 253 Subsequent awards of the Victoria Cross for Australia to the same individual shall be made in the form of a bar to the Cross.Victoria Cross Regulations, Commonwealth Gazette No. S25, 4 February 1991, p. 2, Regulation 6. Where a person has been awarded a second or three or more awards, the post nominals “VC and Bar” or “VC and Bars” may be used.
The Victoria Cross for Australia is the highest award in the Australian Honours Order of Precedence. As such, it takes precedence over all other postnominals and Australian orders and decorations. This postnominal is valid only for the recipient and is not transferred to the recipient's heirs.Ashcroft, Michael, Introduction "Tradition holds that even the most senior officer will salute a Victoria Cross recipient as a mark of the utmost respect for their act of valour." Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston saluted Trooper Mark Donaldson after he received his VC.The Chief of the Defence Force salutes Trooper Mark Donaldson, VC, Defence Media Release MSPA19/09, 16 January 2009. Under Section 103, Subsection (4), of the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986, the Australian Government pays a Victoria Cross Allowance to any service person awarded the medal. The act set this amount at A$3,230 per year. Since 20 September 2005, this amount has been indexed annually in line with Australian Consumer Price Index increases.Australian Veteran's Entitlement Act 1986, section 103,  (4) Victoria Cross allowance granted to a veteran under this section is payable at the rate of $3,230 per year. Note: The amount fixed by this subsection is indexed annually in line with CPI increases. See section 198FA.,   This amount is in addition to any amount that the veteran may be awarded under the general decoration allowance of $2.10 per fortnight.
The various forms of the Victoria Cross are inherently valuable, as was highlighted on 24 July 2006, when at the auctionhouse Bonhams in Sydney, the VC which had been awarded to First World War soldier Captain Alfred Shout, fetched a world-record hammer price of $1 million. Shout had been awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously in 1915 for hand-to-hand combat at the Lone Pine trenches in Gallipoli, Turkey. The buyer, Kerry Stokes, has lent it to the Australian War Memorial for display with the eight other Victoria Crosses awarded to Australians at Gallipoli. The Australian War Memorial in Canberra currently holds 61 Victoria Crosses, 59 awarded to Australians-including Mark Donaldson's Victoria Cross for Australia on loan-and two to British soldiers, forming the largest publicly displayed collection in the world.

</section>
<section id="43445" fatherid="0" title="Recipients" lv="" priority="-5" level="1">
<section id="43446" fatherid="43445" title="" lv="" priority="-1" level="2">
The first Victoria Cross for Australia was awarded to SAS Trooper Mark Donaldson at Government House, Canberra on 16 January 2009. On 2 September 2008, Donaldson rescued an interpreter under heavy enemy fire in Oruzgan province during Operation Slipper, the Australian contribution to the War in Afghanistan.
A synopsis of Donaldson's citation is as follows:

</section>
<section id="43447" fatherid="43445" title="Retrospective awards" lv="" priority="2" level="2">
On 3 April 2001, Senator Chris Schacht, a member of the Australian Senate, gave notice that on the next day of sitting he would introduce the “Award of Victoria Cross for Australia Bill 2001” to award the Victoria Cross for Australia to certain persons. The next sitting day, 4 April 2001, Senator Schacht introduced the bill for three members of the Australian forces to be awarded the Victoria Cross for Australia.(pp. 87-89) The bill was read a first time and Senator Schacht gave his Second Reading Speech in which he said it could be argued that an Act conferring a Victoria Cross for Australia may be beyond the legislative power of the Parliament but he believed that the "naval and military defence of the Commonwealth" power under section 51(vi) of the Constitution gave the Parliament authority to legislate with respect to honours and awards. In accordance with normal procedure the debate was then adjourned. On 1 June 2001, Sid Sidbottom, the Member for Braddon in the House of Representatives introduced the Defence Act Amendment (Victoria Cross) Bill 2001. The Bill was similar to the Senate bill and Sid Sidebottom also believed that the Parliament had power under section 51(vi) of the Constitution.  Neither bill was again debated before the Australian General Election on 10 November 2001. Both Senator Schacht and Mr Sidebottom were members of the Australian Labor Party, then in opposition and the issue was included by the then opposition leader Kim Beazley in his campaign for the General Election. The awards were intended "to raise the profile and recognition of three ordinary Australians, who displayed outstanding bravery."(20-23)
The awards were to be made posthumously to John Simpson Kirkpatrick, Albert Cleary and Teddy Sheean for their actions in the First and Second World Wars. Kirkpatrick's story has become an Anzac legend. He was a stretcher bearer with the 3rd Australian Field Ambulance, Australian Army Medical Corps at Gallipoli during the First World War. He landed at Anzac Cove on 25 April 1915 and, on that first night, took a donkey and began carrying wounded from the battle line to the beach for evacuation. He continued this work for three and a half weeks, often under fire, until he was killed. In the fiftieth anniversary year of the Anzac landings in 1965, there was a campaign to award the Victoria Cross to Simpson that resulted in his image with a donkey appearing on the obverse of the Anzac Medallion that was announced in 1966 and first issued in 1967. In 1919, King George V had decreed that no more operational awards would be made for the recently concluded war. Following the 2007 Australian federal election the Labor party came to power and there was speculation that the 2001 bills may be reintroduced. Historians such as Anthony Staunton, writing in the Australian Journal of Military History, have stated that the Victoria Cross for Australia should not be awarded retrospectively as it would set a dangerous precedent.

</section>
</section>
<section id="43448" fatherid="0" title="Notes" lv="" priority="-6" level="1">
</section>
<section id="43449" fatherid="0" title="References" lv="" priority="-7" level="1">
</section>
<section id="43450" fatherid="0" title="Further reading" lv="" priority="-8" level="1">
Category:Military awards and decorations of Australia
Australia

</section>
</document>
