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List of Victoria Cross recipients of the Royal Air Force

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Photograph of the roll of honour to British airmen in St. Clement Danes

The Victoria Cross (VC) is a military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of armed forces of some Commonwealth countries and previous British Empire territories. It takes precedence over all other postnominals and medals. It can be awarded to a person of any rank in any service and civilians under military command, and is presented to the recipient by the British monarch during an investiture held at Buckingham Palace. It is the joint highest award for bravery in the United Kingdom with the George Cross, which is the equivalent honour for valour not "in the face of the enemy".[1] The VC has been awarded on 1356 occasions to 1353 individual recipients.

The ribbon is crimson, 38 mm (1.5 inches) wide. The original (1856) specification for the award stated that the ribbon should be red for army recipients and blue for naval ones.[2] However the dark blue ribbon was abolished soon after the formation of the Royal Air Force on 1 April 1918. On 22 May 1920 King George V signed a warrant that stated all recipients would now receive a red ribbon and the living recipients of the naval version were required to exchange their ribbons for the new colour.[3][4]

There have been a total of 26 recipients of the VC who were serving in the Royal Air Force, including the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, at the time of their valiant deed or deeds. First World War VCs awarded to airmen in the Royal Flying Corps (13[citation needed] in total) and the Royal Naval Air Service (2 in total) are not listed below, see the RN page for the RNAS recipients. The vast majority of air force VCs awarded in a single conflict were for the Second World War, with the majority being won by Bomber Command aircrew and only one going to Fighter Command.[5] Second World War dominion air force personnel under RAF command are not listed below. Their tally is as follows: Royal New Zealand Air Force (3 awards), Royal Australian Air Force (2 awards), Royal Canadian Air Force (2 awards), South African Air Force (1 award). Additionally, two Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm airmen won the VC during the Second World War, one of whom was attached from the Royal Canadian Navy.

All of the 26 men who won the VC while serving in the RAF were aircrew. Although no RAF ground branch officers or tradesmen have ever won the VC while serving in the RAF, Group Captain F H Kirby, who was an RAF equipment officer, won the VC for his actions during the Second Boer War when he was a corporal in the Royal Engineers.[6] No RAF personnel have been awarded the VC since the end of the Second World War.

Recipients

[edit]

  This along with the * indicates that the Victoria Cross was awarded posthumously

Name Unit Date of action Conflict Place of action Notes
Edward Mannock 074No. 74 Squadron and
No. 85 Squadron		 17 June 1918 to
26 July 1918*		 First World War Western Front [7]
Andrew Beauchamp-Proctor 084No. 84 Squadron 8 August 1918 to
8 October 1918		 First World War Western Front [8]
Ferdinand West 008No. 8 Squadron 10 August 1918 First World War Near Ham and Hombleux, France [9]
William Barker 201No. 201 Squadron (attached) 27 October 1918 First World War Over the Forêt de Mormal, France [10]
Donald Garland 012No. 12 Squadron 12 May 1940* Second World War Over the Albert Canal, Belgium [11]
Thomas Gray 012No. 12 Squadron 12 May 1940* Second World War Over the Albert Canal, Belgium [11]
Roderick Learoyd 049No. 49 Squadron 12 August 1940 Second World War Over the Dortmund-Ems Canal, Germany [12]
James Nicolson 249No. 249 Squadron 16 August 1940 Second World War Near Southampton, England [13]
John Hannah 083No. 83 Squadron 15 September 1940 Second World War Over Antwerp, Belgium [14]
Kenneth Campbell 022No. 22 Squadron 6 April 1941* Second World War Over Brest Harbour, France [15]
Hughie Edwards 105No. 105 Squadron 4 July 1941 Second World War Over the port of Bremen, Germany [16]
Arthur Scarf 062No. 62 Squadron 9 December 1941* Second World War Over and on return from Singora, Thailand [17]
John Nettleton 044No. 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron 17 April 1942 Second World War On the outward flight and over Augsburg, Germany [18]
Leslie Manser 050No. 50 Squadron 30 May 1942 to
31 May 1942*		 Second World War Over and attempting to return from Cologne, Germany [19]
Hugh Malcolm 018No. 18 Squadron 4 December 1942* Second World War Near Chougui, Tunisia [20]
Guy Gibson 617No. 617 Squadron 16 May 1943 to
17 May 1943		 Second World War Over the Möhne and Eder dams, Germany [21]
Arthur Aaron 218No. 218 Squadron 12 August 1943* Second World War Over Turin, Italy and on the return flight to Bone, North Africa [22]
William Reid 061No. 61 Squadron 3 November 1943 Second World War On the outward flight and over and returning from Düsseldorf, Germany [23]
Cyril Barton 578No. 578 Squadron 30 March 1944* Second World War On the outward flight and over and returning from Nuremberg, Germany [24]
Norman Jackson 106No. 106 Squadron 26 April 1944 to
27 April 1944		 Second World War Attempting to return from Schweinfurt, Germany [25]
John Cruickshank 210No. 210 Squadron 17 July 1944 to
18 July 1944		 Second World War North Atlantic [26]
Ian Bazalgette 635No. 635 Squadron 4 August 1944* Second World War Over Trossy St. Maximin and flying to Senantes, France [27]
Leonard Cheshire 000Several bomber squadrons 1940 to 1944 Second World War Western Europe [28]
David Lord 271No. 271 Squadron 19 September 1944* Second World War Over Arnhem, Holland [29]
Robert Palmer 109No. 109 Squadron 23 December 1944* Second World War Over Cologne, Germany [30]
George Thompson 009No. 9 Squadron 1 January 1945* Second World War Over the Dortmund-Ems Canal, Germany [31]

Andrew c. Mynarski 419 Sq 12 June 1944 Second World War France

References

[edit]
General
  • Bowyer, Chaz (1992). For Valour - The Air VCs. Grub Street. ISBN 0-948817-57-7.
  • Ashcroft, Michael (2006). Victoria Cross Heroes. Headline Book Publishing. ISBN 0-7553-1632-0.
  • "RAF Victoria Cross Holders - WW1". Malcolm Barrass. Archived from the original on 7 July 2010. Retrieved 15 November 2008.
  • "RAF Victoria Cross Holders - WW2". Malcolm Barrass. Archived from the original on 21 November 2008. Retrieved 15 November 2008.
  • "Royal Air Force Victoria Cross recipients". Mike Chapman. Retrieved 13 November 2008.
  • "Victoria Cross Registers". National Archives (UK). Retrieved 13 November 2008.
Specific
  1. ^ "The world's most exclusive club". Ministry of Defence. 30 April 2007. Archived from the original on 9 June 2007. Retrieved 16 June 2007.
  2. ^ "Original warrant, Clause Two": 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
  3. ^ "The Victoria Cross". Imperial War Museum Collections. Imperial War Museum. Archived from the original on 2 April 2010. Retrieved 15 November 2008.
  4. ^ "The Victoria Cross mentioned in newsletter" (PDF). Army Museum of Western Australia. 1 September 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 June 2007. Retrieved 21 June 2007.
  5. ^ Neil, Tom (15 September 2015). Scramble: The Dramatic Story of a Young Fighter Pilot's Experiences During the Battle of Britain and the Siege of Malta. Amberley Publishing Limited. ISBN 9781445649528.
  6. ^ "London South". Archived from the original on 27 October 2004. Retrieved 28 November 2004.
  7. ^ "No. 31463". The London Gazette. 18 July 1919. p. 9136.
  8. ^ "No. 31042". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 November 1918. p. 14204.
  9. ^ "No. 30999". The London Gazette (Supplement). 5 November 1918. p. 13199.
  10. ^ "No. 31042". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 November 1918. p. 14203.
  11. ^ a b "No. 34870". The London Gazette. 11 June 1940. p. 3516.
  12. ^ "No. 34927". The London Gazette (Supplement). 20 August 1940. p. 5090.
  13. ^ "No. 34993". The London Gazette. 15 November 1940. p. 6569.
  14. ^ "No. 34958". The London Gazette. 1 October 1940. p. 5788.
  15. ^ "No. 35486". The London Gazette (Supplement). 10 March 1942. p. 1163.
  16. ^ "No. 35225". The London Gazette. 22 July 1941. p. 4213.
  17. ^ "No. 37623". The London Gazette (Supplement). 21 June 1946. p. 3211.
  18. ^ "No. 35539". The London Gazette (Supplement). 24 April 1942. p. 1851.
  19. ^ "No. 35755". The London Gazette (Supplement). 20 October 1942. p. 4593.
  20. ^ "No. 35992". The London Gazette (Supplement). 23 April 1943. p. 1905.
  21. ^ "No. 36030". The London Gazette (Supplement). 25 May 1943. p. 2361.
  22. ^ "No. 36235". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 November 1943. p. 4859.
  23. ^ "No. 36285". The London Gazette (Supplement). 10 December 1943. p. 5435.
  24. ^ "No. 36584". The London Gazette (Supplement). 23 June 1944. p. 3041.
  25. ^ "No. 37324". The London Gazette (Supplement). 23 October 1945. p. 5233.
  26. ^ "No. 36682". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 August 1944. p. 4073.
  27. ^ "No. 37228". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 August 1945. p. 4185.
  28. ^ "No. 36693". The London Gazette (Supplement). 5 September 1944. p. 4175.
  29. ^ "No. 37347". The London Gazette (Supplement). 9 November 1945. p. 5533.
  30. ^ "No. 36997". The London Gazette (Supplement). 20 March 1945. p. 1593.
  31. ^ "No. 36948". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 February 1945. p. 999.
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