That man is proud indeed, with the proper kind of pride, who has the
right to use the letters V.C. after his name and to wear the medal
known as the Victoria Cross. For this is the highest honour that can be
won by any man in the British fighting services.
The Victoria Cross is made of bronze, and the picture shows you the
exact shape of the medal. It is that of a “Maltese” cross, so called
because it was the badge of the company of Christian warriors known as
the Knights of Malta.
Hundreds of years ago, in the time of the Crusades, these knights
fought against the Turks who held the Holy Places in Palestine and
tried to drive them out. You see, then, that the chief medal of our
Army and Navy reminds us that we belong to a Christian country, and one
which ought always to fight on the side of justice and right.
It was the good Queen Victoria who gave orders for the first Victoria
Crosses to be made, as the name of the medal will always remind us. She
saw that there was no decoration that could be given to her soldiers
and sailors who had done very brave deeds. There were many of these
brave men who had fought for her and for their country in the Crimean
War which was fought about sixty years before the Great War broke out.
The Queen, therefore, gave careful instructions for the designing and
awarding of the new medal. It was to be made from the metal of cannon
captured in the Crimean War. In the centre of the bronze cross was
to be the figure of a lion standing on guard above the royal crown;
and under the crown there was to be a scroll bearing the simple
inscription, “For Valour.”
The ribbon attached to the medal was to be blue for the Navy and red
for the Army. On the clasp there were to be two branches of laurel,
which were to signify that the wearer had been a victor in the fight;
for the laurel branch has been for long ages the sign of victory in the
arts of peace as well as of war. The Cross was to hang from the clasp
on a support made in the shape of a very broad capital letter V.
The first Victoria Crosses were presented by Queen Victoria herself at
a review in Hyde Park in London. Not long afterwards the Cross was won
in the Indian Mutiny by a young officer who was afterwards to become
famous all over the world and to be known as Lord Roberts.
Lord Roberts died in France during the early part of the Great War,
though he was too old to be in command of our troops. But his winning
of the V.C. has always acted as an example to brave soldiers, and the
simple story of what he did may well be told here once more.
He was a lieutenant when he won the Cross, and was fighting in the
Indian Mutiny which broke out in 1857. The rebels had gathered together
in a certain Indian village; and General Grant received orders from
his commander-in-chief, Sir Colin Campbell, to drive them out. He took
Roberts with him in the force which was to carry out this piece of
work; and although the rebels had several guns and fought with great
bravery, they were at last driven out of the village.
While this stern work was going on, Roberts saw two sepoys running away
with a British flag. This was a sight to fire the blood of any British
officer, and the young lieutenant did not pause to consider what he
should do. He rode swiftly down upon the two men, drawing his sword as
he came near to them. The men turned and faced him, each with a musket
in his hands. Roberts reined in his horse and raised his sword. At that
moment the barrel of a musket was pushed close to his face.
There was a sharp click--but no discharge. The cap had missed fire and
at the same moment the sepoy carrying the standard was struck to the
ground with a blow from Roberts’ sword. As the man fell, the young
officer deftly snatched the flag from his dying grasp. The other man
dropped his musket and made off at full speed.
Once again Roberts put spurs to his horse to take a further share in
the pursuit of the rebels. Some distance away he met with two more
sepoys standing at bay, each armed with a musket to which a bayonet
was fixed. Not only Roberts but the flag was once more in danger, for
it was two against one and the native soldiers were very skilful with
their weapons.
Roberts set his teeth and rode straight forward, sword in hand. His
attack was so direct and furious that the two men were thrown off their
guard. In a moment one of them lay stretched upon the ground and the
other had joined once more in the quick retreat.