In the original dustsheet. Binding the same as the cover.

• F.B.A. provides an in-depth photographic presentation of this item to stimulate your feeling and touch. More traditional book descriptions are immediately available.

                                 A good collector’s copy.

‘It wasn’t until after he was safely back in the aircraft again that I heard that he’d actually been out on the wing to try to put the fire out … Remember that we were flying at about 90 miles an hour at a height of 13,000 feet’ Squadron Leader RP Widdowson on Sergeant James Ward, who earned his VC in 1941

The Victoria Cross, awarded to the most courageous and determined servicemen, is the highest military decoration that can be bestowed.

In Forgotten Voices: Victoria Cross, first-hand accounts of soldiers, sailors and airmen describe the incredible events that earned these extraordinary men the VC in the last century.

Captivating and often humbling, these stories depict exceptional acts of bravery in unimaginable situations, of men who would say they were just doing their duty.

Introduction by General Sir Richard Dannatt.

Reviews:

———–  This profound study by Roderick Bailey goes a long way to identifying the common characteristics of the bravest of the brave … Here is a testament to what is good about humankind against the backdrop of what can be the worst. The abiding thought with which the reader is left is one of hope; that adversity can indeed bring out the best in us. These “Forgotten Voices” are eloquent in proclaiming this enduring truth — General Sir Richard Dannatt, from the Introduction

————  A significant and important book … Over the last 45 years I have read hundreds of VC books but this volume has a unique place because of the “voices” of the VCs themselves … Highly recommended and should be read by anyone with an interest in the VC ― Victoria Cross Society

About the Author – A graduate of Cambridge and Edinburgh Universities and a former Alistair Horne Fellow at St Antony’s College, Oxford, Roderick Bailey is a historian attached to the Imperial War Museum. He is the author of Forgotten Voices of D-Day, Forgotten Voices of the Secret War, which was a Sunday Times Top Ten bestseller, and the acclaimed The Wildest Province: SOE in the Land of the Eagle.

The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour “in the presence of the enemy” to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously awarded by countries of the Commonwealth of Nations, most of which have established their own honours systems and no longer recommend British honours. It may be awarded to a person of any military rank in any service and to civilians under military command. No civilian has received the award since 1879. Since the first awards were presented by Queen Victoria in 1857, two-thirds of all awards have been personally presented by the British monarch. The investitures are usually held at Buckingham Palace.

The VC was introduced on 29 January 1856 by Queen Victoria to honour acts of valour during the Crimean War. Since then, the medal has been awarded 1,358 times to 1,355 individual recipients. Only 15 medals, of which 11 to members of the British Army and 4 to members of the Australian Army, have been awarded since the Second World War. The traditional explanation of the source of the metal from which the medals are struck is that it derives from a Russian cannon captured at the siege of Sevastopol. However, research has indicated another origin for the material. The historian John Glanfield has established that the metal for most of the medals made since December 1914 came from two Chinese cannons and that there is no evidence of Russian origin.

The VC is highly prized and has been valued at over £400,000 at auctions. A number of public and private collections are devoted to the Victoria Cross. The private collection of Lord Ashcroft, amassed since 1986, contains over one-tenth of all Victoria Crosses awarded. After a 2008 donation to the Imperial War Museum, the Ashcroft collection went on public display alongside the museum’s Victoria and George Cross collection in November 2010.

Beginning with the Centennial of Confederation in 1967, Canada, followed in 1975 by Australia  and New Zealand, developed their own national honours systems, separate from and independent of the British or Imperial honours system. As each country’s system evolved, operational gallantry awards were developed with the premier award of each system, with the Victoria Cross for Australia, the Canadian Victoria Cross and the Victoria Cross for New Zealand being created and named in honour of the Victoria Cross. They are unique awards of each honours system recommended, assessed, gazetted and presented by each country.