For Valour: Victoria Cross and Medal of Honor Battles

by Perrett, Bryan

• ISBN13: 9780304366989
• ISBN10: 0304366986
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-01-19
• Publisher: Cassell

Summary

The Victoria Cross, a simple bronze cross inscribed For Valour on the front and engraved with the recipient's name, rank, number, unit and the date of the action on the reverse, was first awarded by Queen Victoria - in a ceremony in Hyde Park - in 1857, to heroes of the Crimea. The VC is the most prized British and Commonwealth decoration for gallantry, and is earned too often at the cost of the ultimate sacrifice. Only 1,354 VCs have been awarded, and this book, in Bryan Perrett's inimitable style, tells the story behind some of the most remarkable, from the Crimea through to the Second World War. Likewise, the Congressional Medal of Honor, the US equivalent decoration, is celebrated here in equal measure in his gripping episodes of outstanding gallantry in battle. The VC and the Medal of Honor have on occasion even been awarded for acts on the same battlefield.

Author Biography

Bryan Perrett left the army as a successful career officer to take up the pen as a full-time writer. Able to write to any brief (he was captioning picture-strips for schoolgirl comics at one point), he found his metier as a military historian and writer of good, fast, episodic, narrative popular histories. His many books, all founded on meticulous research from primary sources, find a wide popular readership. He is the bestselling author in the bestselling Cassell Military Classics series.

Table of Contents

Introduction	1	(12)
The Crimean War 1854--56
The Battle of the Alma 20 September 1854	13	(12)
The Battle of Balaklava 25 October 1854	25	(9)
Inkerman 5 November 1854	34	(11)
The Indian Mutiny 1857--58
The Delhi Arsenal 11 May 1857	45	(4)
The Siege of Delhi 8 June--20 September 1857	49	(5)
The Storming of Delhi 14--20 September 1857	54	(8)
The Second Relief of Lucknow 16 November 1857	62	(11)
China • North America • Southern Africa North-West Frontier • Cuba 1860--1900
The Taku Forts 21 August 1860	73	(5)
The Great Locomotive Chase 12 April 1862	78	(5)
Gettysburg 1--3 July 1863	83	(15)
Mobile Bay 5 August 1864	98	(6)
The Sioux War of 1876	104	(11)
Rorke's Drift 22--23 January 1879	115	(13)
The Storming of Nilt Fort 2 December 1891	128	(7)
San Juan Hill/El Caney 1 July 1898	135	(9)
Colenso 15 December 1899	144	(8)
The Boxer Rising 1900--1901	152	(15)
The First World War 1914--18
Mons, Le Cateau and The Aisne August--September 1914	167	(15)
Gallipoli 1915	182	(19)
Jutland 31 May -- 1 June 1916	201	(7)
The Somme 1 July 1916	208	(9)
Zeebrugge and Ostend 22--23 April and 9--10 May 1918	217	(12)
Over There--Belleau Wood and The Argonne June--November 1918	229	(14)
The Second World War 1939--45
Tobruk--Operation Crusader 18 November--7 December 1941	243	(9)
The St Nazaire Raid 28 March 1942	252	(15)
Dieppe -- Operation Jubilee 19 August 1942	267	(6)
First and Second Alamein July and October 1942	273	(14)
Guadalcanal 7 August 1942 -- 7 February 1943	287	(16)
Bloody Sunday -- The Ploesti Raid 1 August 1943	303	(6)
Anzio January--June 1944	309	(18)
Kohima, Imphal and the Second Chindit Incursion April--July 1944	327	(17)
Market Garden 17--25 September 1944	344	(8)
Iwo Jima 19 February -- 26 March 1945	352	(13)
Epilogue	365	(1)
Appendix	366	(1)
Bibliography	367	(4)
Index	371