The George Cross was instituted in September
1940 to recognise civilian heroism. King George VI created
the award for the men and women of the Commonwealth whose
courage could not be marked by any other honour. The silver
cross, bearing an image of St George slaying the dragon
and the words "FOR GALLANTRY", was designed by Percy Metcalfe
and is struck at the Royal Mint. The reverse is plain
and bears the name of the recipient and the date of the
award. The George Cross is worn before all other decorations
except the Victoria Cross.
The King announced the creation of the George Cross in a broadcast
to Britain and the Empire on the 23rd September 1940. In his
speech the King said: "In order that they should be
worthily and promptly recognised, I have decided to create,
at once, a new mark of honour for men and women in all walks
of civilian life. I propose to give my name to this new distinction,
which will consist of the George Cross, which will rank next
to the Victoria Cross, and the George Medal for wider distribution."
The formal announcement of the new award appeared the following
day. The Royal Warrant was published in the London Gazette on
31st January 1941.
The decoration is only awarded "for acts of the
greatest heroism or of the most conspicuous courage in
circumstances of extreme danger". It has been
awarded directly to 155 people, 84 posthumously, and was
bestowed on over 100 recipients during the Second World
War. To date 17 members of the Corps (including two members
of the Corps of Royal Canadian Engineers and one member
of the Indian Engineers) have been awarded the George
Cross.
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The George Cross |
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The selection of those listed below has been drawn from
the official Corps history (Vols: VIII, IX, and
X) and has been done on the principle "Once a
sapper, always a sapper". In this case the term
"sapper" refers to all those who have been awarded
the GC whilst serving with British Empire forces after
they had been either commissioned or enlisted as a member
of a British or Empire military engineer corps, whatever
their rank, speciality or national allegiance.
Also included in the list below are Sapper receiptants
of the Albert Medal (AM), Empire Gallantry Medal (EGM)
and the Edward Medal (EM).
Albert Medal (AM) - was instituted on 7
March 1866 and named after Queen Victoria's husband Prince
Albert. It was awarded for gallantry in saving life with at
sea or on land. The use of the post-nominal initials AM was
authorised in 1918. In 1949 the Albert Medal in Gold was ‘replaced’
by the George Cross (GC), although this was not regulated
by a Royal Warrant. In 1971, the award of the Albert Medal
ceased and living recipients were invited to exchange their
decoration for the GC.
Edward Medal (Industry) (EM) - was instituted
on 1 December 1909 and was awarded for acts of bravery in
factory accidents and disasters. Like the EM (Mines) it also
had two classes: 1st (Silver) and 2nd (Bronze). No 1st class
medals were awarded after 1948. Since 1949 the medal was only
granted posthumously. In 1971, 1 Silver Medal and 25 Bronze
recipients of the Edward Medal (Industry) chose to exchange
their EMs for the George Cross (GC).
Empire Gallantry Medal (EGM) - officially called the 'Medal of the Order of the British Empire for Gallantry', was instituted on the 29 December 1922. At the time of the introduction of the George Cross (GC) in September 1940, 108 living recipients of the EGM were obliged to exchange their decoration for the GC.
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| Name |
Location |
Date |
Location of GC |
| 2nd Lieutenant Wallace Launcelot ANDREWS GC |
Croydon |
26 Aug 1940 |
Private |
| Lieutenant Bertram Stuart Trevelyan ARCHER GC |
Llandarcy, near Swansea, Wales |
2 Sep 1940 |
Private |
| Captain Herbert John Leslie BAREFOOT GC |
London |
22 Jan 1941 |
Imperial War Museum |
| 2nd Lieutentant Michael Paul BENNER GC (Posthumously) |
Grossglockner, Austria |
1 Jul 1957 |
Private |
| Captain Michael BLANEY GC (Posthumously) |
West Ham, London |
18 Sep 1940 |
Private |
| Major
Herbert Edgar BURTON, EGM/GC, OBE |
Whitby, Yorkshire |
1 Nov 1914 |
Royal Engineers Museum |
| Lance
Sergeant William John BUTTON GC |
Britain |
18 Aug 1940 |
Private |
| 2nd
Lieutenant Alexander Fraser CAMPBELL GC (Posthumously) |
Coventry |
17 Oct 1940 |
Royal Engineers Museum |
| Lieutenant John Guise COWLEY AM KBE CB |
Quetta, India |
31 May - 1 Jun 1935 |
Not known |
| Lieutenant Robert DAVIES GC |
St. Paul's Cathedral, London |
12 Sep 1940 |
Imperial War Museum |
| Sergeant Michael GIBSON GC (Posthumously) |
Coventry |
18 Oct 1940 |
Private |
| Corporal (Acting Sergeant) Charles Thomas HARRIS EM
MSM |
|
22 Jan 1918
|
Unknown |
Corporal James HENDRY GC (Posthumously)
Corps of Royal Canadian Engineers |
Loch Laggan, Scotland |
13 June 1941 |
Not known |
| Major Cyril Joseph MARTIN GC MC |
London |
17-18 Jan 1943 |
Private |
| Lieutenant Colonel A D MERRIMAN GC OBE |
Regent Street, London |
11 Sep 1940 |
Private |
| Lieutenant Edward Womersley REYNOLDS EGM/GC |
Britain |
17 Aug 1940 |
Not known |
Lieutenant John MacMillan Stevenson PATTON, GC, CBE
Corps of Royal Canadian Engineers |
Weybridge, Surrey |
21 Sep1940 |
Not known |
| Lieutenant Edward Wormersley REYNOLDS GC |
Congresbury |
17 Aug 1940 |
Private |
Subedar SUBRAMANYAN GC (Posthumously)
Corps of Indian Engineers |
Mignano, Italy |
24 Feb 1944 |
Not known |
| 2nd
Lieutenant Ellis Edward TALBOT GC MBE |
Britain |
24-25 Aug 1940 |
Royal Engineers Museum |
| Sapper George Cameron WYLIE GC |
St. Paul's Cathedral, London |
12 Sep 1940 |
St. Paul's Cathedral, London |
