The George Cross is highest gallantry award for civilians, as well as for members of the armed forces in actions for which purely military honours would not normally be granted. Sometimes known as the Civilian Victoria Cross, it ranks after the VC in precedence. It was instituted on 24 September 1940 by King George VI. At this time, during the height of the Blitz, there was a strong desire to reward the many acts of civilian courage. The existing awards open to civilians were not judged suitable to meet the new situation, therefore it was decided that the George Cross and the George Medal would be instituted to recognise both civilian gallantry in the face of enemy action and brave deeds more generally.
The GC replaced the Medal of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for Gallantry aka Empire Gallantry Medal (EGM) and all holders of the EGM were obliged to exchange their medals for a GC, However, the substitution policy ignored holders of the Albert Medal (AM) and the Edward Medal (EM), both of which took precedence over the EGM. In 1971, when the surviving recipients of the AM and the EM became the George Cross, recipients and were invited to exchange their medal for the George Cross. Of the 64 holders of the Albert Medal and 68 holders of the Edward Medal eligible to exchange, 49 and 59 respectively took up the option.
The GC has been awarded 411 times to individuals and two collective awards were made to Malta and the Royal Ulster Constabulary.
(Information from Victoriacrossonline)
 The George Cross (GC) |
 Empire Gallantry Medal (EGM) |
 Edward Reynolds GC 1917 – 14/12/1955 St Peters Churchyard, Harborne |
 Richard Vincent Ellingworth GC 28/01/1898 – 21/09/1940 Portsmouth Milton Cemetery |
 John Frederick Bell GC. 1872 – 05/1950 Great Malvern Cemetery, Worcestershire. |
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 Richard John Knowlton AM. 11/05/1899 – 24/08/1981 London Road Cemetery, Salisbury |
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 George Paterson Niven EGM 1898 ? – 02/02/1947 Yardley Cemetery, Yardley, Birmingham. |
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 George Walter Inwood GC 22/09/1905 – 16/10/1940 Yardley Cemetery, Birmingham |
 Richard John Ryan GC RN. 23/07/1903 – 21/09/1940 Haslar Royal Naval Cemetery |
 David Booker EM 19/10/1910 – 01/04/1982 Bloxwich Cemetery |
 Samuel Booker EM 19/10/1910 – 12/1979 Bloxwich Cemetery |
 Robert Murray Kavanaugh AM 18/12/1906 – 12/09/1976 Field of Mars Cemetery, Ryde, NSW, Australia |
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 Paul Douglas Robertson GC 1892 – 04/08/1975 Purewa Cemetery, Auckland, New Zealand |
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 Horace William Madden GC 14/02/1924 – 06/11/1951 UN Military Cemetery, Busan, Korea |
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 Alexander Fraser Campbell GC 02/05/1898 – 18/10/1940 London Road Cemetery, Coventry |
 Michael Gibson GC 06/1906 – 18/10/1940 London Road Cemetery, Coventry |
 John Thomas Baker EM 14/04/1912 – 07/12/2000 Windmill Road Cemetery, Coventry. |
 Wally Oakes GC23/04/1922 – 12/06/1965 St Matthew’s Churchyard, Haslington. |
 John Weller EM 1889 -14/12/1978 Richmond Cemetery, Yorkshire |
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17/06/1902 – 26/02/1964 |
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 Malta. GC. |
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 Violette Szabo. GC. 26/06/1921 – 05/02/1945 SOE Memorial, Lambeth, London.. |
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 Civil Defence GC Recipients plaque National Memorial Arboretum |
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 Royal Ulster Constabulary GC Memorial. National Memorial Arboretum |
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 Donald Owen Clarke GC05/03/1923-08/09/1942 Tower Hill Merchant Navy Memorial |
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DRW © 2008-2019. Created 13/05/2015. Removed captions and changed to paragraphs, linked to individual pages 15/03 -18/03/2017. Special thanks to Kevin Brazier and Mark Green. Photos of gravesites of John Frederick Bell, Horace Madden, Robert Kavanaugh, John Weller, Edward Reynolds, Paul D Roberston, Michael Gibson, John Thomas Baker, Alexander Fraser Campbell and the Booker Brothers by Mark Green. All rights reserved.