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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 Newthorpe, Nottinghamshire, 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 52.

Most Recent GC Awards

The George Cross has been very rarely awarded since the end of World War Two.

Posthumous George Cross Award

The most recent posthumous award of the George Cross was to Mark William Wright, a Corporal in the Parachute Regiment. The citation was published in the London Gazette on 14 December 2006:

From July 2006, a fire support group of 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment, consisting of mortars, snipers, heavy machine guns and anti-tank weapons, held a high ridge feature to the south of the Kajaki Dam in the northern centre of Helmand Province. This group was tasked with defending the dam area from Taliban attack.

On 6 September Lance Corporal Hale was ordered to lead a sniper patrol down the southern side of the ridge in an attempt to engage a group of Taliban fighters that had been reported to be operating on the principal highway to the east of the ridge. Three hundred metres from his main position Lance Corporal Hale stepped on a mine, which blew off one of his legs. Seeing the mine-strike from the top of the ridge, Corporal Wright gathered a number of personnel and rushed down the slope to give assistance.

Fully aware of the risk of entering a minefield in which a casualty had already occurred, Corporal Wright made a conscious decision to enter the mined area knowing he faced a significant risk of initiating a mine. On arriving alongside the injured Lance Corporal Hale, Corporal Wright immediately took command of the incident and directed two qualified medical orderlies to take over the treatment of Lance Corporal Hale. Conscious of the dangers of operating in a minefield, Corporal Wright ordered all unnecessary personnel to safety and then began organising the casualty evacuation. Realising that Lance Corporal Hale was likely to bleed to death if they attempted to move him back up the steep slope, Corporal Wright called for a helicopter and ordered a route to be cleared through the minefield to a possible landing site.

Corporal Pearson undertook the task, but stepped on a mine and suffered a traumatic amputation of his left leg when moving back across the route he thought he had cleared. Corporal Wright at once moved to Corporal Pearson and began rendering assistance until one of the medical orderlies could take over. In doing so, he again took the risk of setting off another mine. Once again Corporal Wright ordered all non-essential personnel to stay out of the minefield and began sending a further situation report to his headquarters. He also ensured that urgently required additional medical items were passed down the ridge to treat those wounded in the minefield. Shortly afterwards a Chinook CH47 helicopter landed to an offset position from the minefield, but as Corporal Wright stood up to begin making his way to the helicopter he initiated a third mine sustaining serious injuries to his left shoulder and chest area and also to his face. This mine also caused chest injuries to one of the two medical personnel. The remaining medical orderly set about treating Corporal Wright, but was himself wounded by a fourth mine blast which blew off the leg of a soldier treating Corporal Pearson. This blast caused further injury to both Corporal Wright and Corporal Pearson and the medical orderly. After the fourth mine blast there were now seven casualties still in the minefield, three of whom had lost limbs. All of those injured, including Corporal Wright, were in very real danger of bleeding to death. Medical supplies were becoming exhausted and initial hope of rescue had disappeared as the CH47 helicopter had had to abort its mission.

Despite this horrific situation, his own very serious injuries and the precarious situation of the others in the minefield, Corporal Wright still strove to exercise control of the situation. He did this despite being in great pain and fully aware that he was in danger of bleeding to death. He gave his identification number and ordered those other injured personnel to do so as well in order to assist with their treatment once evacuated. Until eventually evacuated by an American aircraft equipped with a winch, Corporal Wright remained conscious for the majority of the time that help took to arrive. During this period he continued to shout encouragement to those around him and several survivors subsequently paid tribute to the contribution this made to maintaining morale and calm amongst so many wounded men.

Regrettably, Corporal Wright died of his wounds on the helicopter during the transit flight to the field dressing station.

There is absolutely no doubt that Corporal Wright entered the minefield to assist Lance Corporal Hale in the full knowledge of the dangerous situation. He had the option to wait for a mine clearance team to arrive, but decided to take action immediately, realising that conducting a full mine clearance to reach Lance Corporal Hale would take too long and he was likely to die before it was completed. When further casualties occurred he again ordered others to safety, but continued to move around the minefield to control the situation. In doing so he suffred mortal injury but still continued to demonstrate command presence that was so vital to eventually ensuring that all casualties and members of the rescue party were evacuated from the horrific situation. It is notable that from the time of responding to the first mine strike, Corporal Wright spent three and a half hours
in the minefield and that for a significant amount of that time he himself was very seriously wounded and in great pain. His outstandingly courageous actions and leadership were an inspiration to all those around him during an extremely precarious situation. His complete disregard for his own safety while doing everything possible to retain control of the situation and to save lives constitutes an act of the greatest gallantry.

Surviving George Cross Award

The most recent award of the George Cross to an individual who survived performing their gallantry was to Captain Peter Norton, an Ammunition Technical Officer in the Royal Logistic Corps.

The following citation was published in the London Gazette:

Captain Norton was the second-in-command of the US Combined Explosives Exploitation Cell (CEXC) based in the outskirts of Baghdad. The unit has been in the forefront of counter Improvised Explosive Device (IED) operations and is plays a vital role in the collection and analysis of weapons intelligence.

At 1917 hours on 24 July 2005, a three vehicle patrol from B Company, 2nd Battalion, 121st Regiment of the Georgia National Guard was attacked by a massive command initiated IED in the Al Bayaa district near Baghdad. The ensuing explosion resulted in the complete destruction of a 'Humvee' patrol vehicle and the deaths of four US personnel. Due to the significance of the attack, a team from CEXC, commanded by Captain Norton, was tasked immediately to the scene. On arrival, Captain Norton was faced with a scene of carnage and the inevitable confusion which is present in the aftermath of such an incident. He quickly took charge and ensured the safety of all the coalition forces present. A short while later he was briefed that a possible command wire had been spotted in the vicinity of the explosion site. With a complete understanding of the potential hazard to himself and knowing that the insurgents had used secondary devices before in the particularly dangerous part of Iraq, Captain Norton instructed his team and the US forces present in the area to remain with their vehicle while he alone went forward to confirm whether a command wire IED was present.

A short while later, an explosion occurred and Captain Norton sustained a traumatic amputation of his left leg and suffered serious blast and fragmentation injuries to his right leg, arms and lower abdomen. When his team came forward to render first aid, he was conscious, lucid and most concerned regarding their safety. He had correctly deduced that he had stepped on a victim operated IED and there was a high probability that further devices were present. Before allowing them to render first aid, he instructed his team on which areas were safe and where they could move. Despite having sustained grievous injuries he remained in command and coolly directed the follow-up actions. It is typical of the man that he ignored his injuries and regarded the safety of his men a paramount as they administered life saving first aid to him. It is of note that a further device was found less than ten metres away and rendered safe the following day. Captain Norton's prescience and clear orders in the most difficult circumstances undoubtedly prevented further serious injury or loss of life.

Captain Norton has deployed to numerous other incidents during his time in Iraq, three of which a warrant mention. On 30 April 2005 he was investigating the scene of a suicide vehicle borne IED when his team was attached by two rocket propelled grenades. Despite the attack he still managed to conduct the necessary post-blast analysis. On 9 May 2005, whilst exploiting a supposedly neutralised suicide vest IED, which was packet with a combination of high explosives and ball-bearings, Captain Norton discovered that the detonators were still connected. He immediately, and without thought for his own safety, made the device safe by hand. Furthermore on 23 June 2005, whilst investigating the scene of an IED, Captain Norton discovered, concealed in the roadside, a secondary claymore mine. His quick and instinctive thinking ensured the area was rapidly evacuated and allowed a US Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team to clear the device, thereby saving further loss of life. Captain Norton has come under fire and has been exposed to significant danger on a number of occasions. He has consistently behaved in an exemplary fashion and his professionalism has been of the highest order. Captain Norton's outstanding bravery at the incident in Al Bayaa and throughout his tour fully justifies formal recognition.

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 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.

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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.

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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.