[6] At this time, shortly after the climax of the Battle of Britain and during the third week of the Blitz, there was a strong desire to reward the many acts of civilian courage.

Announcing the new award, 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.

[citation needed] The GC, which may be awarded posthumously, is granted in recognition of: acts of the greatest heroism or of the most conspicuous courage in circumstances of extreme danger.

[20] The George Cross Committee of the Cabinet Office considers cases of military and civilian gallantry.

[28] The three collective awards have been to the Island of Malta, the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and the National Health Service of the United Kingdom (NHS).

The GC was awarded to the island of Malta in a letter dated 15 April 1942 from King George VI to the island's Governor Lieutenant-General Sir William Dobbie: To honour her brave people, I award the George Cross to the Island Fortress of Malta to bear witness to a heroism and devotion that will long be famous in history.The Governor answered: By God's help Malta will not weaken but will endure until victory is won.The cross and the messages are today in the War Museum in Fort Saint Elmo, Valletta.

The fortitude of the population under sustained enemy air raids, and a naval blockade which almost saw them starved into submission, won widespread admiration in Britain and other Allied nations.

Eric Grove argued on the BBC in 2017 that the George Cross was awarded as a propaganda gesture and consequently 'the island of Malta could not be allowed to fall as Singapore had done.

The citation published by Buckingham Palace on 23 November 1999 stated: For the past 30 years, the Royal Ulster Constabulary has been the bulwark against, and the main target of, a sustained and brutal terrorism campaign.

The Force has suffered heavily in protecting both sides of the community from danger—302 officers have been killed in the line of duty and thousands more injured, many seriously.

As Northern Ireland reaches a turning point in its political development this award is made to recognise the collective courage and dedication to duty of all of those who have served in the Royal Ulster Constabulary and who have accepted the danger and stress this has brought to them and to their families.

Over more than seven decades, and especially in recent times, you have supported the people of our country with courage, compassion and dedication, demonstrating the highest standards of public service.

Four awards were to officers of the Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve who served in the extremely dangerous role of mine disposal during the Second World War.

Privates Benjamin Gower Hardy and Ralph Jones were posthumously awarded the George Cross for manning a Vickers machine gun during the Cowra breakout, a mass escape by Japanese prisoners of war in central New South Wales on 5 August 1944.

Captain Lionel Colin Matthews was eventually executed by his captors for building a resistance network in British North Borneo in the Second World War,[43] while Private Horace William Madden, captured in Korea in 1951, died of privations while assisting fellow prisoners and openly resisting enemy efforts to force him to collaborate.

[44] The last Australian to be awarded the GC (in 1978) was Constable Michael Kenneth Pratt of the Victoria Police, Melbourne, for arresting two armed bank robbers in June 1976.

For 39 years until the award to Dominic Troulon in 2017, Pratt was the most recent living civilian George Cross recipient.