List of New Zealand Victoria Cross recipients

Charles Heaphy, New Zealand's first Victoria Cross recipient

The Victoria Cross is a military decoration awarded for valour of the British and Commonwealth forces. The highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy, it was first instituted by Queen Victoria in 1856 after the Crimean War.<ref name=vcmod>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Officially there have been 22 Imperial Victoria Crosses awarded to New Zealand military personnel.<ref name=Lintock>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> These awards were bestowed upon 21 individuals, with Charles Upham receiving the award on two occasions.<ref name=teara1>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref>

Background

Established in 1856, the Victoria Cross has been awarded to service personnel for extraordinary valour and devotion to duty while facing a hostile force. Between 1858 and 1881 the Victoria Cross could also be awarded for actions taken "under circumstances of extreme danger" not in the face of the enemy.<ref name="McCreery2015k">Template:Cite book</ref> Six people (four Irish, one English and one Canadian) were awarded Victoria Crosses under this clause (one in 1866 during the Fenian raids, five for a single incident in 1867 during the Andaman Islands Expedition), until it was amended in 1881 to only allow acts "in the presence of the enemy".<ref name="McCreery2015k"/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 1999 the Victoria Cross for New Zealand was created as a separate version of the award solely for New Zealand personnel. To date, there has been one recipient of that award – Willie Apiata for actions in Afghanistan in 2004<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> – although recipients of the Victoria Cross for New Zealand are not included on this list.

Summary

The first award to a New Zealander came in 1864 when Charles Heaphy received a Victoria Cross for his actions during the Invasion of Waikato during the New Zealand Wars.<ref name=Heaphy>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Since then there has been one award to a New Zealander serving during the Second Boer War, 11 during World War I, and nine in World War II. There were no awards to New Zealanders for service during the Korean War or the Vietnam War.<ref name=NZHerald/>

In addition to the 22 awards to New Zealand military personnel, there have been seven other awards to New Zealanders serving in overseas forces, which are not included in the official count.<ref name=Lintock/> Of these, the majority served with the Australian forces during the First World War, including: Alfred Shout, Percy Storkey, Lawrence Weathers, and Thomas Cooke, all of whom are listed as Australian recipients.<ref name=SundayMail>Template:Cite news</ref> New Zealand's most famous soldier, Bernard Freyberg is sometimes listed as a New Zealand recipient, although he was serving in the British Army when he performed the deeds that led to his award in 1916,<ref name=NZHerald>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and is not included in the official count. William Barnard Rhodes-Moorhouse received the award posthumously for service with the Royal Flying Corps in 1915, while William Edward Sanders, commanding HMS Prize, received the award for actions at sea in 1917 while serving in the Royal Navy Reserve.<ref name=teara2>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> An eighth, Cecil D'Arcy (born in Wanganui), who served during the Anglo-Zulu War in 1879, is variously listed as a New Zealand or South African recipient,<ref name=NZHerald/><ref name=DArcy>Template:London Gazette</ref> but is not officially included on the list of New Zealanders who received the award in overseas forces.<ref name=teara2/>

Recipients

• Template:Legend2

Name	Date of action	Conflict	Unit	Place of action	Notes
Template:Sortname	1917	First World War	Wellington Infantry Regiment	La Basse Ville, Belgium	<ref name=teara1/><ref name=NZHerald/>
Template:Sortname	1915	First World War	New Zealand Divisional Signal Company	Gallipoli, Turkey	<ref name=teara1/><ref name=NZHerald/>
Template:Sortname	1916	First World War	Otago Infantry Regiment	High Wood, France	<ref name=teara1/><ref group="Note">Brown died in action three weeks after the action that led to his award.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref></ref>
Template:Sortname	1918	First World War	BB500Auckland Infantry Regiment	Crèvecœur, France	<ref name=teara1/><ref name=NZHerald/>
Template:Sortname	1942	Second World War	BB02222nd Battalion	Ruweisat, Egypt	<ref name=teara1/><ref name=NZHerald/>
Template:Sortname	1918*	First World War	New Zealand Engineers	Grévillers, France	<ref name=teara1/><ref name=NZHerald/>
Template:Sortname	1917	First World War	New Zealand Rifle Brigade	Messines, Belgium	<ref name=teara1/><ref name=NZHerald/>
Template:Sortname	1918	First World War	Wellington Infantry Regiment	Bancourt, France	<ref name=teara1/><ref name=NZHerald/>
Template:Sortname	1901	Second Boer War	BB0044th New Zealand Contingent	Naauwpoort, South Africa	<ref name=teara1/><ref name=NZHerald/>
Template:Sortname	1864	New Zealand Wars	BB501Auckland Militia	Mangapiko River, New Zealand	<ref name=teara1/><ref name=Heaphy/><ref>Template:London Gazette</ref>
Template:Sortname	1941	Second World War	BB02020th Battalion	Kalamai, Greece	<ref name=teara1/><ref name=NZHerald/>
Template:Sortname	1941	Second World War	BB02323rd Battalion	Crete, Greece	<ref name=teara1/><ref name=NZHerald/>
Template:Sortname	1918	First World War	BB500Auckland Infantry Regiment	Bapaume, France	<ref name=teara1/><ref name=NZHerald/>
Template:Sortname	1918	First World War	New Zealand Rifle Brigade	Gouzeaucourt Wood, France	<ref name=teara1/><ref name=NZHerald/>
Template:Sortname	1943*	Second World War	BB02828th Battalion	Tebaga Gap, Tunisia	<ref name=teara1/><ref name=NZHerald/>
Template:Sortname	1917	First World War	Canterbury Infantry Regiment	Polderhoek, Belgium	<ref name=teara1/><ref name=NZHerald/>
Template:Sortname	1918*	First World War	Otago Infantry Regiment	Rossignol Wood, France	<ref name=teara1/><ref>Template:London Gazette</ref>
Template:Sortname	1943	Second World War	No. 487 Squadron RNZAF	Amsterdam, Netherlands	<ref name=teara1/><ref name=NZHerald/>
Template:Sortname	1943*	Second World War	No. 200 Squadron RAF	Atlantic	<ref name=teara1/><ref>Template:London Gazette</ref>
Template:Sortname	1941 1942	Second World War	BB02020th Battalion	Crete, Greece (1941) Ruweisat Ridge, Egypt (1942)	<ref name=teara1/><ref group="Note"> Upham is one of only three people to have received the Victoria Cross twice.<ref name=Lintock/></ref>
Template:Sortname	1941*	Second World War	No. 75 Squadron RNZAF	Munster, Germany	<ref name=teara1/><ref name=NZHerald/>

Further reading

• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book