thumb|upright|alt=A black-and-white photograph of a man with a beard and short hair looking at the viewer and wearing a button-up jacket displaying four medals|Canadian [[William Hall (VC)|William Hall was the first black recipient of the Victoria Cross.]]
The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest award of the United Kingdom honours system. It is awarded for gallantry "in the face of the enemy" to members of armed forces of the United Kingdom and was in the past also awarded to members of armed forces of Canada and other Commonwealth countries. Canada, like most of the others, has established its own honours systems and no longer recommends VCs and other British honours. The Canadian Victoria Cross was created in 1993, as the highest award in the Canadian honours system.
During the time Canadians were eligible for the VC, it was sometimes awarded posthumously and awarded to a person of any military rank in any service and to civilians under military command. No Canadian civilian ever won the VC. Since the first awards were presented by Queen Victoria in 1857, two thirds of all awards were personally presented by the British monarch of the time. These investitures were usually held at Buckingham Palace.
Background
Established in 1856, the Victoria Cross has been awarded to service personnel for extraordinary valour and devotion to duty mostly while facing a hostile force. Between 1858 and 1881 the Victoria Cross could be awarded for extraordinary actions taken "under circumstances of extreme danger" not in the face of the enemy. Six people were awarded Victoria Crosses under this clause, two of them having a connection to Canada – one to an Irish soldier serving in the British army in Canada for actions taken in 1866 during the Fenian raids; and five (to a Canadian, three Irishmen and an Englishman) for a dangerous boat rescue in 1867 during the Andaman Islands Expedition. In 1881, VC regulations were amended to only allow acts "in the presence of the enemy".
Since 1993, Canadians are not eligible for the Victoria Cross. That medal was superseded by the Canadian Victoria Crossof equal honour, but yet to be awarded. The scroll of the Canadian VC differs in that the inscription is in Latin rather than English. By using a language that is an ancestor of French and has greatly contributed to the development of English, the medal avoids linguistic discrimination between Canada's two official languages. The fleur-de-lis, in heraldry long associated with the French crown has been added at the end each scroll. The actual metal of the medal is a distinct Canadian composition.
At a time when VCs could be awarded for actions taken not in the face of enemy fire, Timothy O'Hea, a 23-year-old Irishman in the British army, fought a fire in a railway car containing 900 kilograms of ammunition stationed at Danville, Canada East, during the Fenian raids. O'Hea is the only VC recipient awarded for actions on Canadian soil.
Summary
According to Veterans Affairs Canada, the Victoria Cross has been presented to 99 Canadians, or people closely associated with Canada, between its creation for acts performed during the Crimean War and 1993 when the Canadian Victoria Cross was instituted. No Canadian received the VC from 1945 to 1993, and no Canadian has yet been awarded the Canadian Victoria Cross, instituted in 1993. One list solely includes individuals, irrespective of their country of origin, who served in the Canadian armed forces. The Veterans’ Affairs site broadens the criteria to encompass those born in Canada who received the VC while in the United Kingdom armed forces.
The first Canadian to be awarded the Victoria Cross was Alexander Roberts Dunn for his actions in 1854, during the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War. William Hall, a Nova Scotian, was the first black recipient of the Victoria Cross. The last living Canadian recipient of the British Victoria Cross, "Smokey" Smith, died in August 2005.
Canadians were awarded the Victoria Cross for actions performed in the Crimean War (Battle of Balaclava), the Indian Mutiny (AKA the Indian Rebellion of 1857), a native uprising at a remote Indian Ocean island during the Andaman Islands Expedition, the Battle of Omdurman during the Sudan Campaign of 1896–1899, and the Second Boer War. The Victoria Cross was awarded to 73 Canadians and other members of the Canadian army for actions during the First World War, and sixteen Canadians received the VC during the Second World War. Lieutenant Robert Hampton Gray of the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve was the last Canadian to win the VC during the Second World War. He was the last Canadian to receive the Victoria Cross ever.
Seven Canadians were awarded VCs individually on one single day, 2 September 1918, for actions they performed along the 30 km long Drocourt-Quéant Line near Arras, France: Bellenden Hutcheson, Arthur George Knight, William Henry Metcalf, Claude Nunney, Cyrus Wesley Peck, Walter Leigh Rayfield and John Francis Young. Their acts of valour were performed during Canada's Hundred Days, a period of successful offensive campaigning that helped end the war.
Recipients
(This list is arranged alphabetically when first opened but the order can be changed to other criteria such as date of valourous action, by clicking in box at top of each column.)
{|class="wikitable sortable sticky-header" style=text-align:center;
|-
! scope="col" | Name !! scope="col" | Date of action !! scope="col" | Conflict !! scope="col" | Unit !! scope="col" | Perpetuating unit !! scope="col" |Place of action !! scope="col" | Province of origin || scope="col" class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
| scope="row" | || style="background:#e3d9ff; text-align:center;"|1918*||World War I Canada's Hundred Days || || Queen's York Rangers (1st American Regiment) ||Cambrai, France|| Ontario||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1918||World War I (aerial combat) || || None || Forêt de Mormal, France|| Manitoba||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1917||World War I Second Battle of Passchendaele || || Royal Regiment of Canada ||Passchendaele, Belgium|| Ontario||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="background:#e3d9ff;text-align:center;"|1944*||World War II Aerial heroics during bombing raid on V-1 flying bomb site || || No. 115 Squadron RAF ||Trossy St. Maximin, France|| Alberta||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1915||World War I Second Battle of Ypres || || British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own) ||Kerselaere, Belgium|| British Columbia||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="background:#e3d9ff; text-align:center;"|1917*||World War I Battle of Polygon Wood ||9th Battalion, The Leicestershire Regiment ||B Company, 2nd Battalion, Royal Anglian Regiment ||Polygon Wood, Belgium|| Nova Scotia||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1917||World War I (aerial combat) || ||No. 60 Squadron RAF||Cambrai, France|| Ontario||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1918||World War I First Ostend Raid || Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve ||Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve||Ostend, Belgium|| British Columbia||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1918||World War I Canada's Hundred Days (Battle of Amiens (1918))|| || Royal Winnipeg Rifles ||Amiens, France|| Manitoba||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="background:#e3d9ff; text-align:center;"|1918*||World War I Canada's Hundred Days (Battle of Amiens (1918))|| || ||Meharicourt, France|| Quebec||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="background:#e3d9ff; text-align:center;"|1917*||World War I Battle of Hill 70 || || Royal Winnipeg Rifles and Calgary Highlanders (10th Canadians) ||Lens, France|| Ontario||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="background:#e3d9ff; text-align:center;"|1918*||World War I Canada's Hundred Days || || Saskatchewan Dragoons ||Valenciennes, France|| Saskatchewan||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="background:#e3d9ff; text-align:center;"|1915*||World War I (Trench warfare)
| || Royal Canadian Regiment ||Givenchy, France|| Ontario||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1918||World War I Canada's Hundred Days || || Victoria Rifles of Canada ||Fresnes, France|| Quebec||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="background:#e3d9ff; text-align:center;"|1916*||World War I Battle of Flers-Courcelette || || Governor General's Foot Guards ||Pozières, France|| Manitoba||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1900||Second Boer War Battle of Leliefontein || Royal Canadian Dragoons ||Royal Canadian Dragoons||Komati River, South Africa|| Ontario||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="background:#e3d9ff; text-align:center;"|1917*||World War I Battle of Arras || || Royal Winnipeg Rifles ||Acheville, France|| Saskatchewan||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1918||World War I Canada's Hundred Days (Battle of Amiens (1918))|| || Royal Winnipeg Rifles ||Hackett Woods, France|| Manitoba||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="background:#e3d9ff; text-align:center;"|1945*||World War II Incursion into Germany|| ||Queen's Own Rifles of Canada||Mooshof, Germany|| Ontario||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="background:#e3d9ff; text-align:center;"|1918*||World War I Canada's Hundred Days (Battle of Amiens (1918))|| ||Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada||Amiens, France|| Nova Scotia||.
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1918||World War I Palestine campaign ||2/14th (County of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (London Scottish) || London Regiment || Jordan, Palestine || Manitoba||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1944||World War II Falais pocket || || South Alberta Light Horse ||Battle of Falaise, France|| Saskatchewan||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1898|| Battle of Omdurman, Anglo-Egyptian conquest of Sudan || 21st Lancers || Royal Lancers ||Omdurman, Sudan|| Quebec||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="background:#e3d9ff; text-align:center;"|1918*||World War I defence against German spring offensive ||15th Battalion, The Royal Irish Rifles || Royal Irish Regiment ||Groagie, France|| Alberta||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1918||World War I Canada's Hundred Days || || Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada ||Parvillers, France||n/a||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1867|| Andaman Islands Expedition (Bravery at Sea) || || Royal Welsh ||Little Andaman, India|| Ontario||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1854|| Battle of Balaclava, Crimean War || || Yorkshire Regiment ||Balaclava, Crimea|| Ontario||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="background:#e3d9ff; text-align:center;"|1915*||World War I Second Battle of Ypres || || Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada ||St. Julien, Belgium|| Ontario||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="background:#e3d9ff; text-align:center;"|1918*||World War I defence against German spring offensive Battle of Moreuil Wood || Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) || Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) ||Bois de Moreuil, France|| British Columbia||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1942||World War II
Dieppe raid
|1st Battalion, The Royal Hamilton Light Infantry || Royal Hamilton Light Infantry (Wentworth Regiment) ||Dieppe, France|| Ontario||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1915||World War I Capture of Hill 60
||1st Battalion|| Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment || Ypres, Belgium || Marylebone, London||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1918||World War I Canada's Hundred Days (Battle of Amiens (1918))|| || Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada ||Hangard Wood, France|| New Brunswick||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="background:#e3d9ff; text-align:center;"|1945*
(Aug. 9)
|World War II Pacific War aerial attack on Japanese navy in home waters||Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve || Royal Canadian Navy ||Onagawa Bay, Japan|| British Columbia||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1918||World War I Canada's Hundred Days || Royal Canadian Regiment ||Royal Canadian Regiment||Cambrai, France|| New Brunswick||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="background:#e3d9ff; text-align:center;"|1915*||World War I Second Battle of Ypres || || Royal Winnipeg Rifles ||Ypres, Belgium|| Manitoba||||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1917||World War I Battle of Hill 70 || || British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own) ||Lens, France|| British Columbia||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1917||World War I (Trench warfare)
||Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) || Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) ||Guyencourt, France|| Alberta||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="background:#e3d9ff; text-align:center;"|1917*||World War I Battle of Hill 70 || || Queen's York Rangers (1st American Regiment) (RCAC) ||Lens, France|| Ontario||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="background:#e3d9ff; style="text-align:center;"|1944*||World War II Burma campaign, Battle of the Admin Box ||1st Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment || Royal Anglian Regiment ||Ngakyedauk Pass, Burma (now Myanmar) || British Columbia||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1900||Second Boer War Battle of Leliefontein || Royal Canadian Dragoons || Royal Canadian Dragoons ||Komati River, South Africa|| Ontario||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1917||World War I Second Battle of Passchendaele
| || Governor General's Horse Guards ||Passchendaele, Belgium|| Ontario||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="background:#e3d9ff; text-align:center;"|1918*||World War I Canada's Hundred Days || || Winnipeg Grenadiers ||Bourlon Wood, France|| Ontario||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="background:#e3d9ff; text-align:center;"|1944*||World War II Battle of Atlantic|| || ||Faroes, Atlantic|| Ontario||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1918||World War I Canada's Hundred Days || || Toronto Scottish Regiment (Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother's Own) ||Arras, France|| Ontario||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="background:#e3d9ff; text-align:center;"|1918*||World War I (Trench warfare)|| || ||Neuville-Vitasse, France|| Quebec||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1918||World War I Canada's Hundred Days || || Queen's Own Rifles of Canada and Royal Regiment of Canada ||Bourlon Wood, France|| Ontario||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1916||World War I Battle of Flers–Courcelette || || Loyal Edmonton Regiment (4th Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry) ||Courcelette, France|| Nova Scotia Alberta||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1917||World War I Second Battle of Passchendaele
| || Loyal Edmonton Regiment (4th Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry) ||Passchendaele, Belgium|| Alberta||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="background:#e3d9ff; text-align:center;"|1918*||World War I Canada's Hundred Days || || Royal Winnipeg Rifles and Calgary Highlanders (10th Canadians) ||Villers-les-Cagnicourt, France (near Arras) || Saskatchewan||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1917||World War I Battle of Hill 70 || || Royal Westminster Regiment ||Lens, France||n/a||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="background:#e3d9ff; text-align:center;"|1917*||World War I Battle of Hill 70 || || Governor General's Foot Guards ||Lens, France|| Quebec ||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1917||World War I Vimy Ridge || || Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa (Duke of Edinburgh's Own) ||Vimy Ridge, France|| Ontario||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1918||World War I Canada's Hundred Days || || British Columbia Dragoons ||Cambrai, France || British Columbia ||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1944||World War II Italian campaign ||1st Battalion, The Westminster Regiment (Motor) || Royal Westminster Regiment ||River Melfa, Italy|| British Columbia||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1918||World War I (Trench warfare)|| || Royal Montreal Regiment ||Gavrelle Sector, France|| Alberta||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="background:#e3d9ff; text-align:center;"|1917*||World War I Second Battle of Passchendaele || Canadian Machine Gun Corps || Royal Canadian Armoured Corps ||Meetscheele Spur, Belgium|| Ontario Alberta||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="background:#e3d9ff; text-align:center;"|1918*||World War I (aerial combat) || || No. 2 Squadron RAF
||Albert, France|| Manitoba||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1918||World War I Canada's Hundred Days || || 56th Field Artillery Regiment, RCA, Royal Hamilton Light Infantry (Wentworth Regiment) || Abancourt, France || Ontario||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1942||World War II
Dieppe Raid
|1st Battalion, The South Saskatchewan Regiment || South Saskatchewan Regiment ||Dieppe, France|| British Columbia||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1918||World War I Canada's Hundred Days || || Canadian Scottish Regiment ||Arras, France||n/a||||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="background:#e3d9ff; text-align:center;"|1918*||World War I Canada's Hundred Days (Battle of Amiens (1918)) || || Royal Regiment of Canada ||Demuin, France|| Ontario||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1918||World War I Canada's Hundred Days || || ||Canal de L'Escaut, France|| Manitoba||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1917||World War I Second Battle of Passchendaele || Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry || Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry ||Passchendaele, Belgium|| Saskatchewan||||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1900||Second Boer War (Siege of Wepener)|| Royal Army Medical Corps || ||Wakkerstroom, South Africa|| New Brunswick||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="background:#e3d9ff; text-align:center;"|1918*||World War I Canada's Hundred Days || || Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa (Duke of Edinburgh's Own) ||Drocourt-Queant Line, France (near Arras) || Ontario||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1917||World War I Second Battle of Passchendaele || || Lake Superior Scottish Regiment ||Passchendaele, Belgium|| Manitoba||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1915||World War I (Canadian counterattack after German advance) || 1st Battalion, Irish Guards || Irish Guards || Cuinchy, France|| Saskatchewan||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1917||World War I Battle of Hill 70 || || British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own) ||Lens, France
(Hill 70)
|British Columbia||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="background:#e3d9ff; text-align:center;"|1941*||World War II Battle of Hong Kong ||1st Battalion, The Winnipeg Grenadiers || Winnipeg Grenadiers ||Mount Butler, Hong Kong|| Manitoba||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="background:#e3d9ff; text-align:center;"|1917*||World War I Vimy Ridge || || King's Own Calgary Regiment (RCAC) ||Vimy Ridge, France|| Alberta||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1917||World War I Second Battle of Passchendaele || || Sherbrooke Hussars ||Passchendaele, Belgium|| Yukon||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1918||World War I Canada's Hundred Days || || Canadian Scottish Regiment ||Cagnicourt, France (near Arras) || New Brunswick||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="background:#e3d9ff; style="text-align:center;"|1942*||World War II
Operation Torch
| || ||Oran, Algeria|| P.E.I.||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1918||World War I Canada's Hundred Days || || British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own) ||Arras, France|| Ontario||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1857|| Indian rebellion of 1857 || || The Rifles ||Delhi, India|| Ontario||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1900||Second Boer War (small-unit firefight)|| Strathcona's Horse || Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) ||Wolwespruit, South Africa (near the Vaal River) || Saskatchewan||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="background:#e3d9ff; text-align:center;"|1916*||World War I Battle of the Somme || || Canadian Scottish Regiment ||Somme, France|| British Columbia||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1918||World War I Hundred Days Offensive ||1st Battalion|| Royal Newfoundland Regiment || Ledeghem, Belgium ||Newfoundland
|
|-
| scope="row" | || style="background:#e3d9ff; text-align:center;"|1917*||World War I Second Battle of Passchendaele
| || Royal Winnipeg Rifles ||Passchendaele, Belgium|| Nova Scotia Alberta ||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1918||World War I Canada's Hundred Days || || Sherbrooke Hussars ||Monchy, France|| Ontario||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1915||World War I Second Battle of Ypres || Canadian Army Medical Corps || ||St. Julien, Belgium|| Quebec||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1917||World War I Second Battle of Passchendaele || || Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada ||Passchendaele, Belgium|| Manitoba||||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1916||World War I Mesopotamian campaign || Indian Medical Service || ||Orah Ruins, Mesopotamia|| British Columbia||||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="background:#e3d9ff; text-align:center;"|1918*||World War I Canada's Hundred Days || Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry || Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry ||Parvillers, France|| Manitoba||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1917||World War I Battle of Cambrai || Fort Garry Horse || Fort Garry Horse ||Masnières, France|| Manitoba Alberta ||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="background:#e3d9ff; text-align:center;"|1918*||World War I Canada's Hundred Days (Battle of Amiens (1918))|| || Winnipeg Grenadiers ||Amiens, France|| Manitoba||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1945||World War II Battle of the Rhineland ||1st Battalion, The Essex Scottish Regiment || Essex and Kent Scottish ||Hochwald Forest, Germany|| Ontario||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1945||World War II Operation Varsity (March 1945) || || ||Rhine, Germany|| Ontario||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1943||World War II Italian campaign || Royal 22<sup>e</sup> Régiment || Royal 22<sup>e</sup> Régiment ||Casa Berardi, Italy || Quebec ||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1900||Second Boer War Battle of Leliefontein || Royal Canadian Dragoons || Royal Canadian Dragoons ||Komati River, South Africa|| Quebec||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="background:#e3d9ff; text-align:center;"|1916*||World War I Battle of the Somme ||7th Battalion, Loyal North Lancashire Regiment || Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's, Lancashire and Border) ||La Boiselle, France|| British Columbia||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1918||World War I Canada's Hundred Days || || Canadian Grenadier Guards ||Dury-Arras Sector, France|| Quebec||
|-
| scope="row" | || style="text-align:center;"|1918||World War I Canada's Hundred Days (Battle of Amiens (1918))|| || North Saskatchewan Regiment ||Warvillers, France|| Saskatchewan||
|}
See also
- Canadian order of precedence (decorations and medals)
- Persons of National Historic Significance
- List of Canadian awards