The Queen is expected to hand out the first British Victoria Cross to a living recipient in a decade as it is announced today the rare (and single highest) award ‘for valour’ has been made to Lance Corporal Joshua Leakey of the Parachute Regiment for actions in Afghanistan. Corporal Leakey also becomes the first living British recipient of the Victoria Cross to receive it for actions in Afghanistan.
The Queen’s presentation of the honour – which will take place at an investiture in the coming months – will be just the sixth of the British VC she has made to a living recipient during her reign. Its awarding will precede all other honours and knighthoods at the investiture and include a reading of the citation just before.
Joshua Leakey will now join just six other living recipients of the British Victoria Cross who won the award through their gallantry from actions during the Second World War to, more recently, the war in Iraq.
The last time Her Majesty presented the medal was in 2005 at Buckingham Palace to Johnson Beharry VC for his actions in Iraq. She told now Lance Sergeant Beharry that he was “very special” and that it had been “rather a long time since I’ve awarded one of these”.
Remarking on his achievement, Joshua Leakey said, “the only thing I was really scared of was letting my cap badge down. That’s why I joined the Army – to be a Paratrooper. I wasn’t interested in doing anything else… My biggest fear is letting the side down… and not doing your cap badge proud.”
His medal-earning feat took place during deployment to Afghanistan during 2013. Officials say he showed in the course of his actions he showed “complete disregard” for his own safety during an incident where he and his fellow soldiers were under attacked from 20 heavily armed insurgents.
Corporal Leakey went to the top of a nearby hill, under intense enemy fire, and realised that two joint UK and US machine gun teams had been surrounded by insurgents. He then assumed responsibility, organising casualty evacuation for a wounded US officer before taking up one of the weapons and returning back down the hill.
His award will now be “Gazetted” (appearing in the London Gazette, which acts as the official public register for honours), becoming a bona fide record of the award.
The Victoria Cross was instituted in 1857 following the turmoil of the Crimean war and the many extraordinary acts of heroism it produced. At the time, no suitable award existed for awards for extreme acts of bravery save for those that could be awarded to officers (such as the Order of the Bath). On the orders of Queen Victoria, heavily influenced and guided by Prince Albert, the Victoria Cross was instituted to bridge this gap and create an award that could be awarded just as easily to a normal Private as it could any rank of officer – entirely based on the merit of a soldier’s gallantry.
Following its creation by royal warrant in 1856, its first award was made by Queen Victoria the following year as she handed out the first 62 medals at a ceremony ay Hyde Park. Since creation over 150 years ago, it has been awarded a total of 1,358 times including today’s.
During the Second World War, a total of 181 awards of the VC were made, while the First World War alone saw a the majority of the Victoria Cross’s awards to date at 627.
The Queen made her first award of the Victoria Cross just weeks after her accession to the throne on 27th February 1952 when she awarded Private Bill Speakman the VC for his actions during the Korean War, an award initiated by King George VI before his death.
While he awaits his actual medal, Corporal Leakey’s Victoria Cross was made ‘official’ earlier today at a ceremony at Lancaster House – a building neighbouring Prince Charles’s residence Clarence House – in London and was attended by Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Nicholas Carter.
photo credit: Specimen Victoria Cross Medal Approved by Queen Victoria via photopin (license)
It is not widely known that the holder of a VC, whatever his rank, is saluted by all ranks from Field Marshall (or equivalent) down
Also the ribbon is worn on all uniforms including your jumper. The bearer is also allowed a quarter guard of 12 men when he leaves or enters his barracks. This is why most recipients are not living
Very cool indeed. Is the VC equivalent to the U.S. Medal of Honour?
It’s even more specific than the MoH – the VC is awarded for “… most conspicuous bravery, or some daring or pre-eminent act of valour or self-sacrifice, or extreme devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy.” whereas the MoH is for “Conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty”. The UK has an additional (and equivalent) award for actions not “in the presence of the enemy” – the George Cross (also awarded to qualifying civilians).
To give you some idea, there have been 3,450 MoHs awarded since 1863, but only 1,364 VCs issued since 1856 in the entire British Empire (as was, now just the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand)
They’re both the highest award for valour issued by their countries
Thank you for the information.
Well done and well deserved!!! Why is it British people feel the need to denigrate the United States Medal of Honor? Consider the size differential between the number of persons each country has in their military and you would expect the US to have awarded more MOH’s than Britian would VC’s. Regardless of the “official description” of why they are awarded they are both the highest military honor for valor on the battlefield for each nation. Finally, in Britian you have an entire system of honours awarded by your sovereign. If you doubt the equivalency of the MOH read USMC Lance Corporal Dakota Fannings MOH citation. He fought for six hours in the open and had five vehicles shot out from under him as he rescued many persons. In the early days the MOH was awarded FAR TOO easily. Such is not the case. Today our MOH and your VC ARE EQUALS AND I SAY WELL DONE TO ALL WHO RECEIVE EITHER. You are the best ally the US has and will ever have. I’m grateful for such a wonderfull ally. Well done Corporal Leakey!! God Save Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II!! D. Griffin former Major US Army Valdez, Alaska
Given that part of the action for which L/Cpl Leakey has been awarded the VC involved the rescue of an American Officer do you think he will be similarly honoured by the American Government? … Is it possible he can make the double? VC / MoH … certainly sounds as if he deserves it.
I’m not 100% sure, but I think that awarding the MoH to a non-US serviceman requires an Act of Congress (it hasn’t happened to a named individual yet – the only presumed foreign MoH awardees are the British, French, Belgian, Italian and Romanian Unknown Soldiers).
There was one Irish medical officer (at this point all of Ireland was part of the UK) who was awarded the VC for his actions in the Waikato-Huahua Māori War in 1864, who was later the recipient of the Prussian Iron Cross (2nd class) for his work in the British Ambulance Corps during the Franco-Prussian war in 1870.
Thank you Rufus for taking the time to answer my question.
I think you’re missing the point (probably down to me typing with too much blood in my caffeine stream), the MoH is awardable to any military personnel who perform an act of near-suicidal bravery and valour.
The VC is awardable for any military personnel who perform an act of near-suicidal bravery and valour in the presence of the enemy.
If the act of near-suicidal bravery and valour is not in the presence of the enemy (the obvious military examples of this are EOD and IED Disposal personnel, where there’s a good chance that the enemy isn’t there) or when it’s not a member of the military that’s done something that heroic then by the terms of the original warrant (the original 1856 document that set up the VC as a medal) they don’t qualify for a VC.
This was why the George Cross was set up in 1940 (it is, in British eyes, the exact equivalent of the VC), the first recipient was a civilian ARP (Air Raid Prevention) warden, who had repeatedly dug unsupported tunnels through bombed-out houses (often while air raids were still taking place) to recover people trapped in the wreckage.
tl;dr The problem is there is no direct equivalency – the VC must be military personnel in the face of the enemy, the MoH must be military personnel and the GC doesn’t require the recipient to be military at all.
Overall the only people who are awarded any of them these days (the VC was also awarded with far more frequency in its early years, which also sways the numbers) are outright heroes in my eyes.
I can understand too much caffeine in the blood. However, you have excellent facts and were correct on your numbers. What I failed to explain was some history which explains the high MOH numbers. Pres. Lincoln wanted a medal to honour (I’ll try to use English English & not US spelling since you did form the language and it is your story) bravery during our Civil War. At that time there was the Purple Heart for those who had been wounded and nothing else. (LTG George Washington started our Purple Heart in the American Recolution.). Consequently, because of a lack of other medals and because we do not have a Monarch who is the Fount of Honour with an entire system of honours, we had the Purple Heart for wounded and the MOH for extra bravery. Therefore in the early days many MOH’s were awarded easily compared to today’s standards. After The Great War (WW I to us here in the US) the US congress stripped many MOH’s. Many have been restored in recent times due to our climate of political correctness. By World War II we finally had established a more complete system of military awards following (sort of) your example. So the timeframe from which you must compare the VC and MOH is WW II on. By then our awards for valour were and still are: MOH mistakenly called the CMOH because it is awarded by the US Pres. in the name of Congress. Then our DSC, Silver Star, Bronze Star and finally a branch specific Commendation Medal with a V device for valour denoting the Army or Navy Commendation was won in battle. Yes we awarded more MOH’s in WW II but at full strength the US Military dwarfed that of the whole British Empire (again I am an extreme Anglophile). From WW II onwards the two are equal and neither is more specific. Our respective countries have just chosen different words to describe them and I think we can all agree words are just words when they come from government but heroic actions are completely different. Finally, consider this it is so difficult to win a MOH and stay alive that in the past decade we have FINALLY awarded the MOH to men from WW II, Korea and Vietnam. Very few MOH awards from WW II on have been to the living. Again please read Lance Corporal Leaky’s citation and compare it to USMC Lance Corporal Dakota Fanning’s MOH citation. Today the VC and MOH are equal!! Again well done LCPL Leaky!! God save the Queen and the UK!!! We appreciate and respect all of you and are grateful for you!!!!! D. Griffin MAJ. US Army Honorable Discharge 2010. Valdez, Alaska
I forgot to mention from the MOH down to an Army (or other branch) Commedation with V device they are only awarded for valour while under fighting the enemy. Our only civilian award the Presidential Medal of Freedom IS NOT seen as an equal to the MOH. I wish we did have something like the George Cross but alas we do not. Perhaps we aren’t too supercilious to eventually see your example and make an award like the George Cross. Especially, since we don’t have a whole system of honors like GCMG or MVO CVO etc.
Respectfully,
D. Griffin Maj. US Army Hon. Dis. 2010
I seem to remember someone who got a GC for brave action under fire in Iraq but as it was not ‘the enemy’ he didn’t get a VC (must have been American fire).
That was Trooper (later LCoH) Christopher Finney, who was driving one of a pair of Scimitars accompanying a pair of Spartan APCs conducting a patrol who were mistaken for Iraqi armour by a pair of A-10 pilots from the Idaho Air National Guard.
Trooper Finney got clear, realised his gunner was still in the burning vehicle and went back for him. Then went back again to radio in despite the fact that the A-10s had come around for another attack.
He then went back again, despite the fact he was wounded in the lower back and legs, to try and rescue the trapped driver of the other Scimitar only to be driven back by the intense heat and exploding munitions.
There have been 3514 MofH awards including 19 double awards. There have been 1358 VC awards including three double awards. Canada, Australia and New Zealand have their own awards systems and no longer award the British VC.
Inspirational hero in the true meaning of the word. There are a few who truly understand the exceptional heroism shown to deserve this medal. Well done Cpl Leakey.
Well done but It’s not the first VC awarded for actions in Afghanistan, to date there is 1 Kiwi and 2 Aussie recipients; get your facts straight.
This is the third award for Afghanistan for the current campaign and all are to the British Army. Australia and New Zealand no longer makes recommendations for the British VC since they have their own honours system and their own equivalent awards.
Simon,
The very first sentence of this report contains the words “British Victoria Cross”.
It would be courteous to read the bloody article first, before admonishing the author.
very impressive heroism – congratulation Cpl – well deserved
You should never shorten his rank to just ‘Corporal’. It’s always ‘Lance Corporal’. He’s apparently related to Lt-Gen David Leakey CMG CBE, the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod.
In the US that’s true. You’ll find abbreviation to Corporal is accepted form in British forces (in the same way as Lieutenant Colonel is often shortened just to ‘Colonel’). It is also how Lance Corporals are addressed.
Well done from the US