List of living recipients of the George Cross

As of 2020, there are 15 living recipients of the George Cross,[1] including two former recipients of the Albert Medal for Lifesaving who voluntarily exchanged their medals for the George Cross in 1971.

The George Cross and ribbon

The George Cross (GC) is the highest civil decoration of the United Kingdom and other member states of the Commonwealth of Nations. It is the highest gallantry award for civilians of any rank or profession, and is primarily intended to be a civil award. Military personnel may be awarded the George Cross for actions not in the face of the enemy or for actions not normally meriting a purely military award.[2] The George Cross was officially constituted on 24 September 1940 by King George VI as a way to recognise civilian courage. It recognises "acts of the greatest heroism or of the most conspicuous courage in circumstances of extreme danger".[2]

Initially, the Empire Gallantry Medal recognised acts of the highest bravery. The George Cross succeeded the Empire Gallantry Medal and all those living that had been awarded the medal, and all posthumous awards from the outbreak of World War II, were obliged to exchange their medal for the George Cross. In 1971, the living recipients of the Albert Medal and Edward Medal were invited to exchange their medals for the George Cross; 24 recipients elected not to exchange their medal.

In recent years, the George Cross has often served as the highest-level military decoration for recognition of peacetime heroism, or for wartime actions of gallantry not in the face of the enemy. Prior to 2017, when Dominic Troulan received the decoration for heroism during a 2013 terrorist attack at the Westgate shopping mall in Kenya, no civilian awards of the GC had been made since 1978, when it was awarded to Victoria Police constable Michael Pratt. Previously, the last civilian award in the UK to a living recipient had been to Metropolitan Police inspector Jim Beaton in 1974 for his efforts in protecting Anne, Princess Royal from a mentally ill man attempting to kidnap her.

Certain Commonwealth realms have replaced the GC with their own equivalent awards. The Cross of Valour has been awarded to Canadian citizens since its establishment in 1972,[3] and the identically named Cross of Valour has been awarded to Australian citizens since 1975.[4] Both allow the wearer to use the postnominal letters CV.[3][4] Since 1999, the New Zealand Cross has been awarded to New Zealand citizens, which allows the wearer the postnominal NZC.[5] Awards of the George Cross made prior to the establishment of their replacements in each nation are not exchanged.

Until 26 January 1950, when India became a republic within the Commonwealth, the George Cross and its precursors were awarded to Indian civilians and military personnel in the government and princely states forces.[2] All British awards were discontinued after 26 January 1950. In 1952, the Ashoka Chakra replaced the George Cross.[6]

Living recipients

The following people are living recipients of the George Cross.[1]

Name	Year of award	Location of gallantry	Original award (if replaced with GC)
Alf Lowe	1949	Portland Harbour, Dorset	AM
Margaret Purves	1949	Near Sully Island, Vale of Glamorgan	AM
Jack Bamford	1952	Newthorpe, Nottinghamshire
Tony Gledhill	1967	Deptford, London Borough of Lewisham
Carl Walker	1972	Blackpool, Lancashire
Jim Beaton	1974	City of Westminster, London
Michael Pratt	1978	Clifton Hill, Victoria, Australia
Barry Johnson	1990	Derry, Northern Ireland
Christopher Finney	2003	Near Shatt al-Arab, Iraq
Peter Norton	2005	Baghdad, Iraq
Matthew Croucher	2008	Helmand Province, Afghanistan
Kim Hughes	2010	Helmand Province, Afghanistan
Samuel Shephard	2014	Near Al-Qusayr, Egypt
Kevin Haberfield	2015	Afghanistan[7]
Dominic Troulan	2017	Nairobi, Kenya[8]

Recently deceased

Recipients who died within the last five years are listed below.

Name	Year of award	Location of gallantry	Original award (if replaced with GC)	Deceased	Notes
John Gregson	1943	Atlantic Ocean	AM	25 December 2016	[9]
Ernest Wooding	1945	Orillia, Ontario	AM	22 August 2017	[10]
Derek Kinne	1954	Korea		6 February 2018	[11]
Henry Stevens	1958	Bickley, London Borough of Bromley		17 November 2018	[12]
Henry Flintoff	1944	Farndale, North Yorkshire	EM	4 June 2020	[13]
Awang anak Raweng	1951	Johor, Malaysia		18 September 2020	[14]

References

1. "Our People". Victoria Cross and George Cross Association. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
2. "No. 35060". The London Gazette. 31 January 1941. pp. 621–660.
3. "Letters patent repealing the Canadian Bravery Decorations Regulations, 1997 and making the Canadian Bravery Decorations Regulations, 2005". 9 June 2005. Archived from the original on 23 May 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
4. "It's an Honour:Cross of Valour". 29 September 2008. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
5. "New Zealand Gallantry and Bravery Awards – The New Zealand Cross (NZC)". Retrieved 9 April 2015.
6. Peacetime Military Awards
7. "Kevin Howard Haberfield GC".
8. "Civilian Gallantry List (June 2017)" (PDF).
9. "John Gregson death notice". New Zealand Herald. 29 December 2016. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
10. "The Death of a Member". VCGC Association. 30 August 2017. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
11. "The Death of Derek Kinne VC". VCGC Association. 7 February 2018. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
12. "Henry Stevens GC Dies, Aged 90". VCGC Association. November 2018. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
13. "Henry Flintoff profile". VCGC Association. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
14. "Iban war hero Awang Raweng dies in Sri Aman". The Borneo Post. 18 September 2020. Retrieved 20 September 2020.