[4] The historian John Glanfield has established that the metal for most of the medals made since December 1914 came from two Chinese cannons and that there is no evidence of Russian origin.

There was a growing feeling among the public and in the Royal Court that a new award was needed to recognise incidents of gallantry that were unconnected with the length or merit of a man's service.

The original warrant stated that the Victoria Cross would only be awarded to officers and men who had served in the presence of the enemy and had performed some signal act of valour or devotion.

The Victoria Cross is awarded for ... most conspicuous bravery, or some daring or pre-eminent act of valour or self-sacrifice, or extreme devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy.

[33][note 1] Five years later in 1907, the posthumous policy was reversed for earlier wars, and medals were sent to the next of kin of the six officers and men whose names were mentioned in notices in the Gazette dating back to the Indian Mutiny.

[43] Due to this, it has been suggested by many historians including Lord Ashcroft that the changing nature of warfare will result in fewer VCs being awarded.

The extension was made following a recommendation for gallantry regarding colonial soldier Major Charles Heaphy for action in the New Zealand Wars in 1864.

Later that year, the Government of New Zealand assumed full responsibility for operations, but no further recommendations for the Victoria Cross were raised for local troops who distinguished themselves in action.

Surgeon John McCrea, an officer of the South African forces was recommended for gallantry during hostilities which had not been approved by the British Government.

He was awarded the Victoria Cross and the principle was established that gallant conduct could be rewarded independently of any political consideration of military operations.

European officers and men serving with the East India Company were not eligible for the Indian Order of Merit and the Victoria Cross was extended to cover them in October 1857.

Sri Lanka, whose defence personnel were eligible to receive the Victoria Cross until 1972, introduced its own equivalent, the Parama Weera Vibhushanaya medal.

[55] Canada followed suit when in 1993 Queen Elizabeth signed Letters Patent creating the Canadian VC, which is also similar to the British version, except that the legend has been changed from "for valour" to the Latin "pro valore".

The Queen's Regulations for the Army of 1881 gave clear instructions on how to wear it; the VC had to follow the badge of the Order of the Indian Empire.

[66] The original warrant stated that NCOs and private soldiers or seamen on the Victoria Cross Register were entitled to a £10 per annum annuity.

[73][74] The original royal warrant involved an expulsion clause that allowed for a recipient's name to be erased from the official register in certain wholly discreditable circumstances and his pension cancelled.

They are Noel Godfrey Chavasse and Arthur Martin-Leake, both doctors in the Royal Army Medical Corps, for rescuing wounded under fire; and New Zealander Captain Charles Upham, an infantryman, for combat actions.

[84] Royal New Zealand Air Force Flying Officer Lloyd Allan Trigg is the only serviceman ever awarded a VC on evidence solely provided by the enemy, for an action in which there were no surviving Allied witnesses.

Lieutenant Commander Gerard Roope was also awarded a VC on recommendation of the enemy, the captain of the Admiral Hipper, but there were also numerous surviving Allied witnesses to corroborate his actions.

In 1955 the set of medals awarded to Edmund Barron Hartley was bought at Sotheby's for the then record price of £300 (approximately £9900 in present-day terms[92]).

In October 1966 the Middlesex Regiment paid a new record figure of £900 (approximately £21200 in present-day terms[92]) for a VC awarded after the Battle of the Somme.

[94][95] On 24 July 2006, an auction at Bonhams in Sydney of the VC awarded to Captain Alfred Shout fetched a world record hammer price of A$1 million (approximately £410,000 at the time).

[6] In November 2009, it was reported that almost £1.5 million was paid to St Peter's College, Oxford by Lord Ashcroft for the VC and bar awarded to Noel Chavasse.

[96] Vice Admiral Gordon Campbell's medal group, including the VC he received for actions while in command of HMS Farnborough, was reportedly sold for a record £840,000.

[101] On 2 December 2007, nine VCs were among 100 medals (12 sets) stolen from locked, reinforced glass cabinets at the QEII Army Memorial Museum in Waiouru, New Zealand, with a value of around NZD$20 million.

[110] Westminster Abbey contains monuments and memorials to central figures in British history including Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin.

[112] Canon William Lummis was a military historian who built up an archive on the service records and final resting places of Victoria Cross holders.

Beginning in 1995, 23 rest stop memorials named for Australian recipients of the VC from World War II onwards have been sited along the route, providing picnic facilities and public amenities to encourage drivers to take a break on long drives.

23 of the 26 memorial sites have been dedicated, with a further three reserved for the surviving VC recipients, including two of the newer Victoria Cross for Australia awards.

[118] A number of the acts were also portrayed in a Second World War propaganda pamphlet, and the images commissioned by the Ministry of Information are presented in an online gallery available on the website of The National Archives.