Since 1856, 1,358 Victoria Crosses have been awarded – and Kent has garnered its fair share. Maidstone author and historian roy ingleton, from Cranbourne Avenue, has researched the stories of 50 VC holders, who lived or died in the county. Several of them

It took the Crimean War to give rise to the creation of Britain’s most famous medal – the Victoria Cross.

The Crimean War was the first “modern” war in many ways, one of them being that troops were accompanied by journalists who sent back stories on the victories and defeats which were avidly read by the public at home. It was their stories of the derring-do of the soldiers, even in disasters such as at the Charge of the Light Brigade, that led to a public clamour for the soldiers’ bravery to be recognised, with Prince Albert among the leading campaigners. In 1855, the government announced the creation of the Distinguished Conduct Medal, the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal and the Victoria Cross. The VC was unique in that it was open to all ranks in all the services, but was only to be awarded for an act of exceptional bravery and was to take no account of length of service, wounds received or any other factor.

The medal was back-dated to 1854, the start of the war, to recognise acts of valour that had already occurred.

The first VCs were fashioned from the metal of a Russian canon captured at Sebastopol, although that source has long since run out.