List of Victoria Cross recipients by campaign 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 to not 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 7 , 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 four 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 ; on 16 January 2009 Mark Donaldson , on 24 August 2010 Daniel Keighran , and on 23 January 2011 Ben Roberts - Smith , were awarded the Victoria Cross for Australia . As these are separate medals , they are not included in this list .