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Introduction

This page contains a complete list of recipients who have been awarded the George Cross.

The list has been divided into the following sections:

• Directly awarded George Cross recipients
• Recipients who exchanged their EGM for the George Cross.
• Living recipients who exchanged their AM for the George Cross.
• Living recipients who exchanged their EM for the George Cross.

The First George Cross

The first recipient of a directly awarded George Cross medal was Thomas Hopper Alderson.

Mr. Alderson was born in Sunderland, Co. Durham, during 1903. He was a Detachment Leader, in the ARP.

Brindlington, Yorkshire, suffered a number of incidents at the beginning of the Blitz in September 1940 and Mr. Alderson, together with other members of his section, rescued many people trapped under the wreckage of demolished houses. In just one of these incidents 6 people were trapped in a cellar beneath the debris of two 5-storey buildings which had been totally demolished. Mr. Alderson worked his way into this cellar by tunnelling 13 to 14 feet under the main heap of wreckage and for 3½ hours he worked in an unceasingly cramped position, and managed to free all the trapped people.

The award of Mr. Alderson's George Cross was published in the London Gazette on 30 September 1940.

Mr. Alderson died in Driffield, Yorkshire, on 28 October 1965. His George Cross is now displayed in the Imperial War Museum's Victoria & George Cross Gallery.

The Youngest GC Recipient

The youngest recipient of a directly awarded George Cross medal is John Bamford, who was aged 15 years 7 months. Mr. Bamford was born in Ilkeston, Derbyshire on 7 March 1937.

In the early hours of the morning of 19 October 1952 a fire started in the living room in  the Bamford home in Newthorpe. John, the eldest of the 6 children, and his Father managed to get Mrs. Bamford and 3 of the children out, but 2 of the boys, aged 6 and 4, were trapped in their bedroom. The wooden stairs of the house had burst into flames and it seemed impossible to get through to the boys, but John fought his way into the room through the flames and found the little boys huddled together, petrified with fright. He put an arm round each and dragged them to the window where he managed to push the younger child out to his Father standing below, who partially broke his fall. The older boy had panicked and rushed back into the burning room, so John had to catch him, drag him to the window and throw him out to his Father. By this time John himself was fast losing consciousness, and was very badly burned on his upper body, but somehow got his leg over the window-sill and forced himself out. All 3 boys were taken to hospital, where the two rescued boys were soon off the danger list, but John did not go home until February 1953, after many skin-grafting operations.

Mr. Bamford's George Cross award was published in the London Gazette on 16 December 1952.

Most Recent GC Awards

The George Cross has been very rarely awarded since the end of World War Two. Although intended primarily as a civilian award, the majority of awards have been made to military personnel for acts not coming within the scope of a military gallantry award.

Posthumous George Cross Award

The most recent posthumous award of the George Cross was to Staff Sergeant Olaf Sean George Schmid, The Royal Logistic Corps. The following citation was published in the London Gazette dated 19 March 2010:

Staff Sergeant Schmid was a High Threat Improvised Explosive Device Disposal (IEDD) Operator in Helmand from June 2009 until his death in action on 31 October 2009.

He deployed at the height of Operation PANTHER'S CLAWand went immediately into the fray, into one of the most physically draining, mentally intense and hazardous jobs in Helmand. Typically having to deploy on foot, thereby precluding the option of specialist protective equipment and severely limiting the use of remote controlled vehicles, he spent long periods of time in close proximity toVictim Operated IEDs (VOIED) and in the gravest personal danger. Before his death in action he responded to 42 IED tasks, personally dealing with 70 confirmed IEDs. A number of examples illustrate his bravery.

An infantry company based in Wishtan province was isolated by a substantial minefield and the infamous Pharmacy Road, the only resupply route, was blocked by a medium wheeled tractor and another vehicle, both blown up by very large IEDs. Intelligence, unenviable first-hand experience and numerous unexplained explosions from the area indicated that the area of the stricken vehicles was laced with IEDs.

At 0800 hrs on 9 August 2009, as temperatures soared past 45 Celsius, Schmid started work.Within only a hundred metres he found and cleared an IED and once within 100 metres of the vehicles, intent on using a remote controlled vehicle (RCV) and remote explosive clearance devices, he deployed an RCV that struck an IED and was destroyed. Schmid moved forward without hesitation and, well inside the most lethal arc of any device, manually placed explosive charges, clearing a route to within 5 metres of the vehicles. His team then moved to clear a compound adjacent to the stricken vehicles to drag them off the road. When a second IED was found, Schmid made another manual approach and rapidly got rid of it. A new approach to the vehicles from the compound was explosively created for the hulks to be dragged clear. Schmid painstakingly cleared up to both vehicles and his first trip took an hour. He was relying on his eyesight and his understanding of enemy tactics alone. Despite the threat, Schmid again decided against explosive clearance; time was critical so he placed heavy and cumbersome chains onto the stricken vehicles, the riskiest of enterprises given the very high likelihood of booby traps, and the vehicles were finally dragged clear. As light started to fade, Schmid then personally led a high risk clearance of the road where the vehicles had been, manually disposing of two further IEDs. The clearance had lasted 11 hours. It was physically, mentally and emotionally draining, but the road was open and the company resupplied. The resounding success of this battlegroup operation was entirely due to the heroic, selfless acts of Schmid.

On 8 October 2009 Schmid was tasked in Sangin District Centre to deal with an artillery shell reported by unmentored Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers. On arrival the ANA led him, unsuspecting, directly to the device. He was now not only at grave personal risk but immediately realised that the many unsuspecting civilians around him in the bustling bazaar were also in peril. Time was not on his side. He quickly assessed that the shell was in fact part of a live Radio Controlled IED intended to cause maximum casualties in a well populated area. The nature of the device also meant it was almost certainly over-watched by the bomber controlling it. Without any consideration for his own safety, Schmid immediately decided to neutralise the IED manually. To do this he knew he was employing a render safe rocedure that should only ever be employed in the gravest of circumstances and which is conducted at the highest personal risk to the operator. In an instant, Schmid made the most courageous decision possible, consciously placing his own life on the line in order to save the lives of countless Afghan civilians and demonstrating bravery of the highest order and well beyond the call of duty.

At the end of October 2009 Schmid was involved in an operation near Forward Operating Base JACKSON in Battle Group North's area. Having dealt with three IEDs already that day, Schmid and his team were transiting to another compound when a searcher discovered a command wire running down the alleyway they were using. Schmid and his team were trapped in the alleyway with no safe route forward or back as they did not know in which direction the IED was situated. Knowing that his team were in potential danger, he immediately took action to reduce the hazard. Schmid eventually traced the wire to a complex command wire IED in that it incorporated three linked buried main charges. He was killed whilst dealing with the device. Schmid's actions on that fateful day, when trapped in an alleyway with no safe means of escape, probably saved the lives of his team.

These occasions are representative of the complexity and danger that Schmid had faced daily throughout his four month tour. His selfless gallantry, his devotion to duty, and his indefatigable courage displayed time and time again saved countless military and civilian lives and is worthy of the highest recognition.

Surviving George Cross Award

The most recent award of the George Cross to an individual who survived performing their gallantry was to Staff Sergeant Kim Spencer Hughes, The Royal Logistic Corps. The following citation was published in the London Gazette dated 19 March 2010:

On 16 August 2009, Staff Sergeant Hughes, a High Threat Improvised Explosive Device Disposal (IEDD) operator, along with a Royal Engineers Search Team (REST), was tasked to provide close support to the 2 Rifles Battlegroup during an operation to clear a route, south west of Sangin.

In preparation for the operation, elements of ACompany deployed early to secure an Emergency Helicopter Landing Site and isolate compounds to the south of the route as part of the inner cordon. Whilst conducting these preliminary moves the point section initiated a Victim Operated IED (VOIED) resulting in a very serious casualty. During the casualty recovery that followed, the stretcher-bearers initiated a second VOIED that resulted in 2 personnel being killed outright and 4 other very serious casualties, one of whom later died from his wounds. The area was effectively an IED minefield, overwatched by the enemy and the section were stranded within it.

Hughes and his team were called into this harrowing and chaotic situation to extract the casualties and recover the bodies. Speed was absolutely essential if further lives were not to be lost. Without specialist protective clothing in order to save time, Hughes set about clearing a path to the injured, providing constant reassurance that help was on its way. On reaching the first badly injured soldier he discovered a further VOIED within one metre of the casualty that, given their proximity, constituted a grave and immediate threat to the lives of all the casualties. Without knowing the location of the power source, but acutely attuned to the lethal danger he was facing and the overriding need to get medical attention to the casualties rapidly, Hughes calmly carried out a manual neutralisation of the device; any error would have proved instantly fatal.

This was a 'Category A' action only conducted in one of 2 circumstances; a hostage scenario where explosives have been strapped to an innocent individual and a mass casualty event where not taking action is certain to result in further casualties. Both place the emphasis on saving other peoples' lives even, if necessary, at the expense of the operator. It was an extraordinary act.

With shots keeping the enemy at bay, Hughes coolly turned his attention to reaching the remaining casualties and retrieving the dead. Clearing a path forward he discovered 2 further VOIEDs and, twice more, carried out manual neutralisation. His utterly selfless action enabled all the casualties to be extracted and the bodies recovered. Even at this stage Hughes' task was not finished. The Royal Engineers Search Team (REST) had detected a further 4 VOIEDs in the immediate area and stoically, like he has on over 80 other occasions in the last 5 months, he set about disposing of them too.

Dealing with any form of IED is dangerous; to deal with 7 VOIEDs linked in a single circuit, in a mass casualty scenario, using manual neutralisation techniques once, never mind 3 times, is the single most outstanding act of explosive ordnance disposal ever recorded in Afghanistan. That he did it without the security of specialist protective clothing serves even more to demonstrate his outstanding gallantry. Hughes is unequivocally deserving of the highest level of public recognition.

Posthumous GC Recipients

This section contains a list of the posthumous George Cross awards that have been made from 1940 until the present time.

The "Gazette" date refers to the issue of the London Gazette that contains the citation of the award. In many cases, this can be several years after the actually deeds performed. For example, in the case of posthumous POW awards the relevant information was not known until the end of the war or discovered as a result of war crimes investigations.

To view the list click here and the list will appear in your browser window. To return to this page use the "back" button on your browser.

Surviving GC Recipients

This section contains a list of the George Cross awards that have been made to surviving recipients from 1940 until the present time. In some cases, the George Cross recipient survived the acts of gallantry for which they were awarded the medal but died later in the war; sometimes before they were presented with their George Cross.

The "Gazette" date refers to the issue of the London Gazette that contains the citation of the award. In many cases, this can be several years after the actually deeds performed. In some instances, the award is gazetted sometime after the deeds were performed.

To view the list click here and the list will appear in your browser window. To return to this page use the "back" button on your browser.

GCs on Display

The Victoria & George Cross Gallery at London's Imperial War Museum contains a good cross-section of George Cross awards. Apart from the medals, they also contain an account of the deed and other items of interest. The following table lists those George Cross' currently located in the gallery.

EGM-GC Exchanges

To view a list of EGM holders who exchanged the EGM for the George Cross, click here and the list will appear in your browser window. To return to this page use the "back" button on your browser.

EM-GC Exchanges

To view a list of EM holders who exchanged the EM for the George Cross, click here and the list will appear in your browser window. To return to this page use the "back" button on your browser.

AM-GC Exchanges

To view a list of AM holders who exchanged the AM for the George Cross, click here and the list will appear in your browser window. To return to this page use the "back" button on your browser.