Navy lists > Quarterly > 1914 > April

THE VICTORIA CROSS.
927
Ninthly.— It is ordained, that every person selected
for the Cross, under rule seven, shall be publicly
decorated before the Naval or Military force or body
to which he belongs, and with which the act of
bravery for which he is to be rewarded shall have
been performed, and his name shall be recorded
in a General Order, together with the cause of his
especial distinction.
Tenthly.— It is ordained that every person selected
under rule eight shall receive his decoration as soon
as possible, and his name shall likewise appear in a
General Order as above required, such General Order
to be issued by the Naval or Military Commander of
the Forces employed on the service.
Eleventhly.— It is ordained that the General
Orders above referred to, shall from time to time be
transmitted to Our Secretary of State for War, to be
laid before Us, and shall be by him registered.
Twelfthly. — It is ordained that as cases may arise
not falling within the rules above specified, or in
which a claim, though wail founded, may not have
been established on the spot. We will, on the joint
submission of Our Secretary of State for War and of
Our Commander-in-Chief of Our Army, or on that of
Our Lord High Admiral or Lords Commissioners of
the Admiralty in the ease of the Navy, confer the
Decoration, but never without conclusive proof of
the performance of the act of bravery for which the
claim is made.
Thirteenthly.— It is ordained that, in the event of
a gallant and daring act having been performed by a
squadron, ship's company, a detached body of Sea-
men and Marines not under fifty in number, or by a
brigade, regiment, troop, or company, in which the
Admiral, General, or other Officer commanding such
forces, may deem that all are equally brave and
distinguished, and that no special selection can be
made by them ; then, in such case the Admiral,
General, or other Officer commanding, may direct,
that for any such body of Seamen or Marines, or for
every troop or company of Soldiers, one Officer shall
be selected by the Officers engaged for the Decoration
and in like manner one Petty Officer or Non-Com-
missioned Officer shall be selected by the Petty
Officers and Non-Commissioned Officers engaged
and two Seamen or Private Soldiers or Marines, shall
be selected by the Seamen, or Private Soldiers, or
Marines engaged respectively, for the Decoration ;
and the names of those selected shall be transmitted
by the Senior Officer in command of the Naval force,
brigade, regiment, troop, or company, to the Admiral
or General Officer commanding, who shall in due
manner confer the Decoration as if the acts were
done under his own eye.
*Fourteenthly.— It is ordained that every Warrant
Officer, Petty Officer, Seaman, or Marine, or Non-
commissioned Officer or Soldier, who shall have
received the Cross shall, from the date of the act
by which the decoration has been gained, be entitled
to a Special Pension of Ten Pounds a year, and each
additional Bar conferred under rule four on such
Warrant or Petty Officers, or Non-commissioned
Officers or Men, shall carry with it an Additional
Pension of Five Pounds per annum.
Fifteenthly.— In order to make such additional
provision as shall effectually preserve pure this most
honourable distinction, it is ordained, that if any
person on whom such distinction shall be conferred
be convicted of treason, cowardice, felony, or of any
infamous crime, or if he be accused of any such
offence and doth not after a reasonable time sur-
render himself to be tried for the same, his name
shall forthwith be erased from the registry of in-
dividuals upon whom the said Decoration shall have
been conferred by an especial Warrant under Our
Royal Sign Manual, and the Pension conferred under
rule fourteen shall cease and determine from the
date of such Warrant. It is hereby further declared
that We, Our Heirs and Successors, shall be the sole
judges of the circumstance demanding such ex-
pulsion ; moveover. We shall at all times have power
to restore such persons as may at any time have
been expelled, both to the enjoyment of the
Decoration and Pension,
Given at our Court at Buckingham Palace this
twenty-ninth of January, in the nineteenth year
of Our reign and in the year of our Lord one
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
By Her Majesty's Command,
Panmubb.
•Under Her late Majesty's Order in Council of the 2nd of February, 1899, theii Lordships are authorised
to increase the ordinary Victoria Cross Annuity of Ten Pounds, by a sum not exceeding Forty Pounds a
year, in any case in which a Warrant Officer, Petty Officer, Seaman or Marine, who has gained the Victoria
Cross, may be found by them to be, from old age or infirmity, not due to his own fault, in poor circum-
stances, and unable to earn a living ; provided that the Annuity, together with any Pensions of which he
may be in receipt from Public Funds, shall not exceed Fifty Pounds a year.
QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE VICTORIA CROSS.
Whereas doubts have arisen as to the qualification
required for the decoration of the Victoria Cross:
And whereas the description of such qualification in
our warrant of 29th January 1858 is not uniform :
Our will and pleasure is that the qua] incation shall
be "conspicuous bravery or devotion to the country
in the presence of the enemy," and that our warrant
of 29th January 1856 shall be read and interpreted
accordingly.
It is our further will and pleasure that officers and
men of our auxiliary and reserve forces (Naval and
Military) shall be eligible for the decoration of the
Victoria Cross under the conditions of Our said
warrant, as amended by this Our warrant.
Given at Our Court at Osborne, this 23rd day
of April 1881, in the 44th year of Our Reign.
By Her Majesty's Command,
Hugh C. E. Ceilsbbs.