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This is from the National Post today, 8/11/2005 
Sixty years after the last Canadian won the Victoria Cross, the highest award for bravery in the British Commonwealth, the government is preparing to produce the first prototype of Canada's version of the coveted decoration.
Canada has had its own version of the Victoria Cross for more than a decade, but it has never been awarded and until now has existed "only on paper," according to military spokesmen.
But a senior Defence Department source, speaking on condition of anonymity, says the government is about to commission a jeweller to produce the first example of the Canadian award.
France Langlois, a spokeswoman for Michaelle Jean, the Governor-General, would not give details on the project. "Right now they are talking about it ... [but] no decision has been made," she said.
"It's our most important honour -- we don't want to rush it."
The Victoria Cross has been awarded to 94 Canadians in the 150 years since it was created, but it almost disappeared from the Canadian system of military medals and awards in the 1980s.
And some observers feared the dull bronze cross and maroon ribbon, awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy," might never again adorn the chest of a Canadian soldier.
Chris McCreery, the author of The Canadian Honours System, said that when Canada instituted its own system of medals and awards in 1967, the Victoria Cross was retained only reluctantly.
In the early 1990s, a proposal to replace it with a "made in Canada" award was leaked to the press and the resulting storm of protest forced the government of then-prime minister Brian Mulroney to keep the Victoria Cross.
However, the government created a new Canadian Victoria Cross with a slightly different motto -- the original words "For Valour" on the cross were replaced by the Latin "Pro Valore" -- and Mr. McCreery said the government never intended to award it.
"There was a huge amount of reluctance to keep the VC, let alone award it to anyone," he said. "That was the mentality [in the government] from the early '70s until very recently."
Until now, the Canadian Victoria Cross has existed only as a design. A sample of the decoration has never been produced since it was introduced. Examples of the second- and third-ranked awards for bravery -- the Star of Military Valour and the Medal of Military Valour -- have been produced.
"They've been arguing about this for the past year and they should have gotten this done a long time ago," Mr. McCreery said. "A Victoria Cross isn't something you can just whip up in your basement."
Both Australia and New Zealand have introduced their own versions of the Victoria Cross as their nations' highest gallantry awards. Neither country has handed out one of their new versions of the 150-year-old decoration, though four Australians won Victoria Crosses in the Vietnam War.
The last Canadian to win the Victoria Cross was Lieutenant (Naval) Robert Hampton Gray, a pilot who was killed in an attack on Japanese warships in the last days of the Second World War.
The last surviving Canadian recipient of a Victoria Cross, Ernest "Smokey" Smith, died this year and historians say it might be some time before another Canadian wins the award.
"I don't think the government even considered the possibility of awarding anyone a VC," says historian Arthur Bishop, a Second World War veteran and the son of fighter ace Billy Bishop, who won a Victoria Cross during the First World War. "If we're going to have a Canadian Victoria Cross for gallantry, then there bloody well ought to be a readiness to give one to deserving recipients."
Mr. Bishop, who has written a book on Canada's Victoria Cross winners, said he does not believe any Canadians have been passed over for the award in the past 60 years. "But that's academic," he said.
"I don't think there was even a mechanism to recommend or award someone the Victoria Cross.... I doubt whether some of these government people had even heard of the VC."
But with Canadian soldiers taking on increasingly aggressive -- and increasingly dangerous -- missions in Afghanistan, many observers believe any reluctance to recognize their bravery is fading.
"I think there's been a change in attitude since Sept. 11," says historian Jack Granatstein. "In the past, the idea that our soldiers might actually shoot someone just wasn't acknowledged ... now, the government seems to be OK with that.
"I have very little doubt that if someone did something that was worthy of a VC ... in Afghanistan, they will be awarded a VC."
VC FACTS
"The Victoria Cross shall be awarded for the most conspicuous bravery, a daring or pre-eminent act of valour or self-sacrifice or extreme devotion to duty, in the presence of the enemy."
- The Victoria Cross was instituted by Royal Warrant in 1856 but was made retroactive to 1854 to cover the period of the Crimean War. It has been bestowed 1,355 times since 1854.
- The first presentation was made in Hyde Park on June 26, 1857, where Queen Victoria decorated 62 officers and men for actions during the Crimean War.
- Each cross is still made by the same London jewellers, Messrs Hancocks & Co., from the bronze of Chinese cannons captured from the Russians at the siege of Sevastopol in 1855. The remnants of the cannon bronze is still stored in special vaults and an estimated 358 ounces remain, enough for a further 85 VCs.
- At least three witnesses are required to make sworn written statements as to the exact circumstances of the action involved.
- It was not until 1920 that an official amendment was made allowing the VC to be awarded posthumously. It has been estimated that the chances of surviving an act for which a VC is awarded is only one in 10.
- The largest number of VCs won in a single day was 24 at the second relief of Lucknow on Nov. 16, 1857, during the Indian Mutiny. The largest number won in a single action was 11 at Rorke's Drift on Jan. 22, 1879, during the Zulu War.
- Fourteen men not born British or Commonwealth citizens have received the VC; five Americans, one Belgian, three Danes, two Germans, one Swede, a Swiss and a Ukrainian.
- Since 1945 the VC has been awarded only 12 times (two during the Falklands War in 1982 and one this year for actions in Iraq).
- When the VC was instituted, it came with a special pension of 10 pounds per annum. In 1959, the pension was increased to 100 pounds and in 1995 to 1,300 pounds.
Sixty years after the last Canadian won the Victoria Cross, the highest award for bravery in the British Commonwealth, the government is preparing to produce the first prototype of Canada's version of the coveted decoration.
Canada has had its own version of the Victoria Cross for more than a decade, but it has never been awarded and until now has existed "only on paper," according to military spokesmen.
But a senior Defence Department source, speaking on condition of anonymity, says the government is about to commission a jeweller to produce the first example of the Canadian award.
France Langlois, a spokeswoman for Michaelle Jean, the Governor-General, would not give details on the project. "Right now they are talking about it ... [but] no decision has been made," she said.
"It's our most important honour -- we don't want to rush it."
The Victoria Cross has been awarded to 94 Canadians in the 150 years since it was created, but it almost disappeared from the Canadian system of military medals and awards in the 1980s.
And some observers feared the dull bronze cross and maroon ribbon, awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy," might never again adorn the chest of a Canadian soldier.
Chris McCreery, the author of The Canadian Honours System, said that when Canada instituted its own system of medals and awards in 1967, the Victoria Cross was retained only reluctantly.
In the early 1990s, a proposal to replace it with a "made in Canada" award was leaked to the press and the resulting storm of protest forced the government of then-prime minister Brian Mulroney to keep the Victoria Cross.
However, the government created a new Canadian Victoria Cross with a slightly different motto -- the original words "For Valour" on the cross were replaced by the Latin "Pro Valore" -- and Mr. McCreery said the government never intended to award it.
"There was a huge amount of reluctance to keep the VC, let alone award it to anyone," he said. "That was the mentality [in the government] from the early '70s until very recently."
Until now, the Canadian Victoria Cross has existed only as a design. A sample of the decoration has never been produced since it was introduced. Examples of the second- and third-ranked awards for bravery -- the Star of Military Valour and the Medal of Military Valour -- have been produced.
"They've been arguing about this for the past year and they should have gotten this done a long time ago," Mr. McCreery said. "A Victoria Cross isn't something you can just whip up in your basement."
Both Australia and New Zealand have introduced their own versions of the Victoria Cross as their nations' highest gallantry awards. Neither country has handed out one of their new versions of the 150-year-old decoration, though four Australians won Victoria Crosses in the Vietnam War.
The last Canadian to win the Victoria Cross was Lieutenant (Naval) Robert Hampton Gray, a pilot who was killed in an attack on Japanese warships in the last days of the Second World War.
The last surviving Canadian recipient of a Victoria Cross, Ernest "Smokey" Smith, died this year and historians say it might be some time before another Canadian wins the award.
"I don't think the government even considered the possibility of awarding anyone a VC," says historian Arthur Bishop, a Second World War veteran and the son of fighter ace Billy Bishop, who won a Victoria Cross during the First World War. "If we're going to have a Canadian Victoria Cross for gallantry, then there bloody well ought to be a readiness to give one to deserving recipients."
Mr. Bishop, who has written a book on Canada's Victoria Cross winners, said he does not believe any Canadians have been passed over for the award in the past 60 years. "But that's academic," he said.
"I don't think there was even a mechanism to recommend or award someone the Victoria Cross.... I doubt whether some of these government people had even heard of the VC."
But with Canadian soldiers taking on increasingly aggressive -- and increasingly dangerous -- missions in Afghanistan, many observers believe any reluctance to recognize their bravery is fading.
"I think there's been a change in attitude since Sept. 11," says historian Jack Granatstein. "In the past, the idea that our soldiers might actually shoot someone just wasn't acknowledged ... now, the government seems to be OK with that.
"I have very little doubt that if someone did something that was worthy of a VC ... in Afghanistan, they will be awarded a VC."
VC FACTS
"The Victoria Cross shall be awarded for the most conspicuous bravery, a daring or pre-eminent act of valour or self-sacrifice or extreme devotion to duty, in the presence of the enemy."
- The Victoria Cross was instituted by Royal Warrant in 1856 but was made retroactive to 1854 to cover the period of the Crimean War. It has been bestowed 1,355 times since 1854.
- The first presentation was made in Hyde Park on June 26, 1857, where Queen Victoria decorated 62 officers and men for actions during the Crimean War.
- Each cross is still made by the same London jewellers, Messrs Hancocks & Co., from the bronze of Chinese cannons captured from the Russians at the siege of Sevastopol in 1855. The remnants of the cannon bronze is still stored in special vaults and an estimated 358 ounces remain, enough for a further 85 VCs.
- At least three witnesses are required to make sworn written statements as to the exact circumstances of the action involved.
- It was not until 1920 that an official amendment was made allowing the VC to be awarded posthumously. It has been estimated that the chances of surviving an act for which a VC is awarded is only one in 10.
- The largest number of VCs won in a single day was 24 at the second relief of Lucknow on Nov. 16, 1857, during the Indian Mutiny. The largest number won in a single action was 11 at Rorke's Drift on Jan. 22, 1879, during the Zulu War.
- Fourteen men not born British or Commonwealth citizens have received the VC; five Americans, one Belgian, three Danes, two Germans, one Swede, a Swiss and a Ukrainian.
- Since 1945 the VC has been awarded only 12 times (two during the Falklands War in 1982 and one this year for actions in Iraq).
- When the VC was instituted, it came with a special pension of 10 pounds per annum. In 1959, the pension was increased to 100 pounds and in 1995 to 1,300 pounds.
