List of First World War Victoria Cross recipients The Victoria Cross ( VC ) was awarded 628 times to 627 recipients for action in the First World War ( 1914 – 1918 ) . The Victoria Cross 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 ; it 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 World War , also known as the Great War and in the United States as World War I , was a global military conflict that embroiled most of the world ' s great powers , assembled in two opposing alliances : the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance . More than 70 million military personnel were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history . The main combatants descended into a state of total war , directing their entire scientific and industrial capabilities into the war effort . Over 15 million people were killed , making it one of the deadliest conflicts in history . The proximate cause of war was the assassination on 28 June 1914 of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria . Soon after , a system of alliances were activated that would see Europe at war . The Western Front saw the largest concentration of Commonwealth troops with soldiers occupying sectors of the line from the North Sea to the Orne River . On 1 July 1916 , the first day of the Battle of the Somme , the British Army endured the bloodiest day in its history , suffering 57 , 470 casualties and 19 , 240 dead ; nine Victoria Crosses were awarded for action on that day . Most of the casualties occurred in the first hour of the attack . The entire Somme offensive cost the British Army almost half a million men . The war was not just fought on land ; the First World War saw major naval battles as well as the first large - scale use of military aircraft . The war at sea was mainly characterised by the efforts of the Allied Powers in blockading the Central Powers by sea . In return , the Central Powers attempted to break that blockade and establish an effective blockade of the British Isles and France with U - boats and raiders . The largest naval battle of the First World War was the Battle of Jutland which was the only full - scale clash of battleship s in that war . Four Victoria Crosses were awarded for action at Jutland . The war in the air saw 19 VCs being awarded to airmen . The First World War saw significant interest in flying aces , including the German Manfred von Richthofen — also known as The Red Baron — as well as British aces such as Albert Ball , Mick Mannock and Billy Bishop , who were all Victoria Cross recipients . Hostilities ended on 11 November 1918 with the signing of the Armistice Treaty in the Compiègne Forest , but the war was not officially over until the various peace treaties were signed in 1919 . By the war ' s end , four major imperial powers — Germany , Russia , Austria - Hungary , and the Ottoman Empire — had been militarily and politically defeated , and the latter two ceased to exist as autonomous entities . Of the 60 million European soldiers who were mobilised from 1914 – 1918 , 8 million were killed , 7 million were permanently disabled , and 15 million were seriously injured . During the war , Britain called on its dominions and colonies , which provided invaluable military , financial and material support . The armies of the Dominions provided over 2 . 5 million men as well as many thousands of volunteers from the Crown colonies . The largest number of men came from the Indian sub continent , Canada , Australia and New Zealand . The Australian Imperial Force ( AIF ) began forming on 15 August 1914 and remained a volunteer force for the entire war . Throughout the four years of conflict , 331 , 814 volunteers from Australia were sent overseas with 63 VCs awarded ; nine of these were given for the Gallipoli Campaign . Eleven members of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force ( NZEF ) were awarded the Victoria Cross . The Canadian Expeditionary Force ( CEF ) saw over 600 , 000 enlistments throughout its four - year history with 71 VCs awarded . At the outbreak of the hostilities , Newfoundland was a separate dominion and 2 soldiers from Newfoundland were awarded the Victoria Cross . The 628 awards of the Victoria Cross given for action during the First World War account for almost half the 1356 Victoria Crosses awarded throughout its history ; in comparison the Second World War saw 181 medals awarded . Noel Godfrey Chavasse was awarded the Victoria Cross and Bar , for two separate actions in the First World War on the battlefields of Mametz and Passchendaele . He died from wounds received in the second action . Arthur Martin - Leake received a Bar to his Victoria Cross for action in the First World War ; he had been awarded his first Victoria Cross for action in the Second Boer War .