Gallantry Awards – Courage and Sacrifice

Our medal collection is not just a collection of medals.

‘These intolerably nameless names’, as Siegfried Sassoon referred to them, should never be forgotten or ignored, and yet they cascade so relentlessly that they are often difficult to grapple with; within a very short space of time we are inclined to switch off; we soon start to lose our awareness of individual names as we become overwhelmed by the sheer torrent of them; our senses simply become overloaded to the point where we are only aware of the enormity of what stands before us. We can no more get to know the men behind the names than we can get to know people by reading their names in a telephone directory, and yet it is possible to breathe life into ‘these intolerably nameless names’ by uncovering and telling their stories.

Why not discover the story about the person behind the medal by selecting from any of the lists of recipients belonging to a medal below:

The Victoria Cross (VC)

The highest military decoration, awarded for valour and devotion to duty in the face of the enemy to members of the armed forces, regardless of rank. Up to two bars may be awarded in recognition of further acts of gallantry.

Recipients of The Victoria Cross (VC)

The Distinguished Service Order (DSO)

Awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat, serving under fire, and usually awarded to those above the rank of captain. Until 1943, the recipient must have been mentioned in dispatches by the commander-in-chief of the Army, or admiral of the Navy.

Between 1914 and 1916, the DSO could also be awarded to staff officers when they were not under fire or in contact with the enemy, but by 1917, it was once more restricted to those who had served in the presence of the enemy. On 23 August 1916, a warrant allowed a bar to be awarded as a way of formally recognising further acts of merit.

Recipients of The Distinguished Service Order (DSO), Before The Great War

Recipients of The Distinguished Service Order (DSO), The Great War 1914-18

Recipients of The Distinguished Service Order (DSO), Second World War

Recipients of The Distinguished Service Order (DSO), Post Second World War

The Military Cross (MC)

Awarded for an act or acts of exemplary gallantry during active operations against the enemy on land, to captains or officers of lower rank up to warrant officers. (N.C.O.s or other ranks instead received the Military Medal.)

Recipients of The Military Cross (MC), The Great War 1914-18

Recipients of The Military Cross (MC), Second World War

Recipients of The Military Cross (MC), Post Second World War

The Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM)

Awarded for gallantry in the field, a distinguished award for bravery for N.C.O.s and soldiers of the British Army, second only to the Victoria Cross for other ranks.

Recipients of The Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM), Before The Great War

Recipients of The Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM), The Great War 1914-18

Recipients of The Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM), Second World War

Recipients of The Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM), Post Second World War

The Military Medal (MM)

The Military Medal was instituted in March 1916 as an award for NCO’s and men of the Army for acts of bravery and was later extended to women who showed bravery under fire. There was also a provision for the award of a bar for each further act of bravery.

All MM’s issued to British personnel are named, usually in impressed capitals. All issued MM’s have a notification in the London Gazette. It is rare to find a citation for the Military Medal in the Gazettes.

It is possible that the reasons for the award will be found in the Regimental War Diary. In addition, some details can appear in Regimental Histories and, very rarely, an original Divisional citation document that was given to the recipient will have survived.

It is of interest to note that the first Gazette listing awards of the Military Medal (3 June 1916) included retrospective awards for 1914-15 and early 1916.

Recipients of The Military Medal (MM), The Great War 1914-18

Recipients of The Military Medal (MM), Second World War

Recipients of The Military Medal (MM), Post Second World War

About the information

Currently, we only have limited information available for the various awards shown.

As it takes many hours to research an individual to the level of detail that we aim to provide, it is a work in progress to cover the many records, and awards, that are missing.

All of these records contain information that has come from an original source, which in turn could be from a multitude of sources (The National Archives, The London Gazette, Regimental War Dairies etc).

Sometimes the information, from these sources, about the same person is slightly different, so an individual record may not appear to be exactly as you were expecting it to be.

The difficulties arise when soldiers ‘flesh out’ their stories, filling the gaps in their personal experiences with information from other sources. These inaccurate anecdotes find their way into general histories, only to be absorbed and re-told, creating a ‘feedback loop’ of misinformation.

Many a war story, widely repeated and acquiring the repetition and status of ‘historical fact’, is found to stem from a single unsupported anecdote.

We have tried to include as much information as we can so that when you view a record, you will see not only the record information but also information on the regiment, campaign, battle they fought in, items of interest that are in the online collection etc, all painting a picture of what it was really like for the individual that just a name by itself can’t achieve.

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