List of Victoria Cross recipients ( A – F ) 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 orders , decorations and medals , and may be awarded to a person of any rank in any service and to civilians under military command . The award was officially constituted when Queen Victoria issued a warrant under the Royal sign - manual on 29 January 1856 that was gazetted on 5 February 1856 . The order was backdated to 1854 to recognise acts of valour during the Crimean War . The first awards ceremony was held on 26 June 1857 , where Queen Victoria invested 62 of the 111 Crimean recipients in a ceremony in Hyde Park . The first citations of the VC , particularly those in the initial gazette of 24 February 1857 , varied in the details of each action ; some specify date ranges while some specify a single date . The original Royal Warrant did not contain a specific clause regarding posthumous awards , although official policy was not to award the VC posthumously . Between 1897 and 1901 , several notices were issued in the " London Gazette " regarding soldiers who would have been awarded the VC had they survived . In a partial reversal of policy in 1902 , six of the soldiers mentioned were granted the VC , but not " officially " awarded the medal . In 1907 , the posthumous policy was completely reversed and medals were sent to the next of kin of the six soldiers . The Victoria Cross warrant was not officially amended to explicitly allow posthumous awards until 1920 , but one quarter of all awards for the First World War were posthumous . Three people have been awarded the VC and Bar , which is a medal for two actions ; Noel Chavasse , Arthur Martin - Leake and Charles Upham . Chavasse received both medals for actions in the First World War , while Martin - Leake was awarded his first VC for actions in the Second Boer War , and his second for actions during the First World War . Charles Upham received both VCs for actions during the Second World War . The Victoria Cross has been awarded 1 , 356 times to 1 , 353 individual recipients . The largest number of recipients for one campaign is the First World War , for which 628 medals were awarded to 627 recipients . The largest number awarded for actions on a single day was 24 on 16 November 1857 , at the Second Relief of Lucknow , during the Indian Mutiny . The largest number awarded for a single action was 18 , for the assault on Sikandar Bagh , during the Second Relief of Lucknow . The largest number awarded to one unit during a single action was seven , to the 2nd / 24th Foot , for the defence of Rorke ' s Drift ( 22 – 23 January 1879 ) , during the Zulu War . Since 1991 , Australia , Canada and New Zealand have created their own separate Victoria Crosses : the Victoria Cross for Australia , the Victoria Cross for Canada , and the Victoria Cross for New Zealand . Only three of these separate medals have been awarded , all for actions in the War in Afghanistan ; Willie Apiata received the Victoria Cross for New Zealand on 26 July 2007 ; Mark Donaldson received the Victoria Cross for Australia on 16 January 2009 ; and Ben Roberts - Smith was awarded the Victoria Cross for Australia on 23 January 2011 . As these are separate medals , they are not included in this list . The youngest recipient of the VC was Andrew Fitzgibbon who was fifteen at the time of the action that earned him the VC . By comparison , the oldest recipient was William Raynor at 61 at the time of his action in 1857 . There have been several VCs awarded to close relatives . Four pairs of brothers and three fathers and sons have been awarded the VC . In his book " Victoria Cross Heroes , " Lord Ashcroft notes the story of the Gough family as possibly the " bravest family . " Major Charles Gough was awarded the VC in 1857 for saving his brother , Lieutenant Hugh Gough who then went on to win a VC himself in the same year , after he charged enemy guns . Charles ' son , John Gough , then went on to win the family ' s third VC in 1903 . Recipients ( A – F ) . By default this list sorts alphabetically . Indian and Nepalese convention is for the family name first and the given name second ; this is reflected in this list . The rank column sorts by the rank of the recipient at the time of the action . This column sorts by the comparative rank of the recipient within the British Armed Forces command structure . Within the British Armed Forces the Navy is the Senior Service , followed by the Army and then the Royal Air Force ( RAF ) .