As of 2019, there are five living recipients of the Victoria Cross, three living recipients of the Victoria Cross for Australia and one living recipient of the Victoria Cross for New Zealand.. Canada’s Victoria Cross has yet to be awarded. Ernest Alva (Smoky) Smith, Canada's last surviving winner of the Victoria Cross and the only Candian private to win the hounour in the Second World War, has … Gray was one of the last Canadians to die in WWII. The Canadian Victoria Cross is the nation’s highest decoration for valour. In 1857, the first Victoria Cross ever awarded to a Canadian was given to Lt. Alexander Dunn. It supersedes the original Victoria Cross, but is physically identical and carries the same award … The Victoria Cross for New Zealand has been awarded once, which was earned in 2004 but awarded in 2007. However, no Canadian has received either honour since 1945. William Hall, a Nova Scotian, was the first black recipient of the Victoria Cross. Orders and Decorations - Canadian Victoria Cross Recipients. The first Canadian to be awarded the Victoria Cross was Alexander Roberts Dunn for his actions at the Battle of Balaclava during the Crimean War in 1854. Since its creation, the Victoria Cross has been awarded to 99 Canadians and a total of 1,351 recipients altogether. Lieutenant (N) Robert Hampton Gray, VC, DSC, has the distinction of being Canada’s last Victoria Cross winner. The last Canadian recipient was Lieutenant Robert Hampton Gray, whose posthumous award came for actions on Aug. 9, 1945, when, under heavy fire, he led a Corsair attack on a Japanese destroyer and sank it with a direct hit even as … Ninety-eight Canadians are among the 1,358 British Empire and Commonwealth soldiers, sailors and aircrew to have earned the original Victoria Cross.. The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system.It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces.It may be awarded posthumously. Dunn received the medal for acts of bravery during the Crimean War; he was also part of the Charge of the Light Brigade. The Victoria Cross for Australia was established in 1991 as the highest Australian operational gallantry medal. Remember Canada’s Veterans. [7] The Victoria Cross has been presented to 96 Canadians, or people closely associated with Canada, between its creation soon after the Crimean War and 1993 when the Canadian Victoria Cross was instituted. For just days before Hitler's suicide and, later, Germany's surrender, he would display such outstanding bravery that he would be awarded the final Victoria Cross (VC) of the war in Europe. It was previously awarded to Commonwealth countries, most of which have established their own honours systems and no longer recommend British honours. Lt (N) Gray was also a member of the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve (RCNVR), colloquially known as “The Wavy Navy.” Gray, also known as ‘Hammy,’ was born on the 2nd of November 1917, in Trail, British Columbia […] For his actions, Lt (N) Robert Hampton Gray was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest medal for valour in the British Commonwealth, on November 13, 1945, along with the previously mentioned Distinguished Service Cross on … The VC is a military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of armed forces of some Commonwealth countries and previous British Empire territories. Full citations to these awards are recorded in Valiant Men, Canadian War Museum Historical Publications, A.M. Hakkert Ltd. 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