List of Canadian Victoria Cross recipients

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 That medal was superseded by the Canadian Victoria Crossof equal honour, but yet to be awarded.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.) ==See also==