Great Britain - Military Cross (MC)

Country:

Great Britain

Established:

28 December 1914; revised 26 August 1916

Criteria:

The Military Cross (MC) was awarded in recognition of distinguished and meritorious services in time of war to officers—both foreign and domestic—of certain ranks.

Notes:

For services during the Great War, the London Gazette announced the award of the Military Cross (MC) to members of the flying services 1,122 times:

Airmen who received the Military Cross: 999
Airmen who received a first Bar to the Military Cross: 113
Airmen who received a second Bar to the Military Cross: 10

Royal Warrant:

GEORGE THE FIFTH by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India: To all to whom these Presents shall come, Greeting:

WHEREAS We did by Royal Warrant under Our Sign Manual dated 28th December, 1914, institute and create a new Decoration entitled "The Military Cross" to be awarded to Officers of certain ranks in Our Army in recognition of distinguished and meritorious services in time of war:
   And whereas We are desirous that certain alterations should be made in .the regulations governing the said Decoration, We do hereby ordain that the provisions of Our said Royal Warrant shall be cancelled, and that the following regulations shall be substituted in lieu thereof:—
   Firstly: It is ordained that the Cross shall be designated "The Military Cross."
   Secondly: It is ordained that The Military Cross shall consist of a Cross of Silver having on each arm the Imperial Crown and bearing in the centre the Royal and Imperial Cipher.
   Thirdly: It is ordained that no person shall be eligible for this Decoration nor be nominated thereto unless he be a captain, a Commissioned Officer of a lower grade, or a Warrant Officer Class I. or Class II. in Our Army, or Our Indian or Colonial Military Forces, and that the Military Cross shall be awarded only to Officers of the above ranks on a recommendation to Us by Our Principal Secretary of State for War.
   Fourthly: It is ordained that Foreign Officers of an equivalent rank to those above mentioned, who have been associated in Military Operations with Our Army, or Our Indian or Colonial Military Forces, shall be eligible for the award of The Military Cross.
   Fifthly: It is ordained that anyone who, after having performed services for which the Military Cross is awarded,, subsequently performs an approved act of gallantry which, if he had not received the Cross, would have entitled him to it, shall be awarded a bar to be attached to the riband by which the Cross is suspended, and for every additional such act an additional bar may be added.
   Sixthly: It is ordained that the names of those upon whom We may be pleased to confer this Decoration shall be published in the London Gazette, and that a Register thereof shall be kept in the Office of Our Principal Secretary of State for War.
   Seventhly: It is ordained that the Military Cross shall be worn immediately after all Orders and before all Decorations and Medals (the Victoria Cross alone excepted), and shall be worn on the left breast pendent from a riband of one inch and three-eighths in width, which shall be in colour white with a purple stripe.
   Eighthly: It is ordained that the Military Cross shall not confer any individual precedence, but shall entitle the recipient to the addition after his name of the letters M.C.
   Ninthly: It is ordained that any person whom by an especial Warrant under Our Royal Sign Manual We declare to have forfeited the Military Cross shall return the said Decoration to the Office of Our Principal Secretary of State for War, and that his name shall be erased from the Register of those upon whom the said Decoration shall have been conferred.
   Lastly: We reserve to Ourself, Our heirs and successors full power, of annulling, altering, abrogating, augmenting, -interpreting, or dispensing with these. Regulations, or any part thereof, by a notification under Our Royal Sign Manual.

Given at Our Court of St. James's, this 23rd day of August, 1916, in the seventh year of Our Reign.

By His Majesty's Command,
D. LLOYD GEORGE.

Supplement to the London Gazette, 25 March 1916 (xxx/xxx)

Recipients - World War I Aces

1		Aldred, John William
2		Allen, Lawrence Wilfred
3		Andrews, John Oliver
4		Arnison, Charles Henry
5		Atkey, Alfred Clayburn
6		Atkinson, Rupert Norman Gould
7		Baker, Brian Edmund
8		Balfour, Harold Harington
9		Ball, Albert
10		Banks, Charles Chaplin

Total Records: 347

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