The Conspicuous Gallantry Cross - Bravery regardless of rank or service

If you've been reading up on the British military honours system, you'll have gathered that hierarchy is important! Not only in terms of the hierarchy of different awards but also in relation to which ranks could or shouldreceive various honours. For example, the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) wasinstituted in the Victorian erawith junior officers in mind. As class barriers break down in the rest of society however this is filtering through to the military.

In 1993 a major review of the military honours system was conducted and one result of this was the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross - an award for gallant action below only the Victoria Cross. Thenewhonourwas created with a view to removing distinctions of rank and service (army, air force, navy) in awards for bravery. It is a recognition that bravery is the trait of an individual which can be shown regardless of rank, privilege, class or role. So, with this in mind, the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross replaces three previous awards which had rank or service criteria for award - the Distinguished Service Order (DSO), the Distinguished Conduct Medal and the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal.

Unsurprisingly given its youth, only 24 awards of the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross have been made to date.