List of George Cross recipients

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The George Cross and ribbon George Cross.jpg
The George Cross and ribbon

The George Cross (GC) is the second highest award of the United Kingdom honours system. It is awarded for gallantry not "in the presence of the enemy" to both members of the British armed forces and to British civilians. Posthumous awards have always been available. It was previously awarded to Commonwealth countries, most of which have established their own honours systems and no longer recommend British honours. It may be awarded to a person of any military rank in any service and to civilians including police, emergency services and merchant seamen. Many of the awards have been personally presented by the British monarch to recipients and in the case of posthumous awards to next of kin. These investitures are usually held at Buckingham Palace. [1]

Contents

Initially, the Empire Gallantry Medal recognised acts of the highest bravery but was never considered equal in status to the Victoria Cross. The George Cross succeeded the Empire Gallantry Medal and all those living who 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 either the Albert Medal for Lifesaving or Edward Medal, that respectively recognised the saving of life and acts of bravery following industrial accidents, were invited to exchange their medals for the George Cross; 24 recipients elected not to exchange their medals.

Since the Second World War most Commonwealth realms have instituted their own honours systems with the second highest award being for gallantry not in the face of the enemy. In 1972, Canada created the Cross of Valour for Canadian citizens; [2] in 1975 Australia, inspired by Canada, created a similar award with the same name in the Australian Honours System, the Cross of Valour. Recipients of the Canadian and Australian awards both use the postnominal CV. [2] [3] Unlike the GC within British honours, the majority of Canadian CV awards and all Australian CV awards have been to civilians. The Australian Government ceased recommendations for British awards in 1983 and the last two Australian state governments ceased recommendations in 1989. During the period when Australian states made recommendations for British awards, the Governor of Victoria recommended a GC which was granted. The award gazetted in 1978 was for 39 years the most recent award to a living civilian, until the award in 2017 to Dominic Troulan. [3] On 5 October 1992, the Australian Prime Minister announced that Australian governments would make no further recommendations for British honours with British awards to Australians after that date being treated as foreign awards. The Queen on the recommendation of the Governor-General of New Zealand awarded the New Zealand Cross, instituted in 1999 to four individuals. There were two awards in 1999 and another two awards in 2021. [4] The postnominal is NZC. [5]

There have been 407 George Cross awards, including two special awards, but no honorary awards. Some recipients serving in British forces were foreign born, including Albert Guérisse (Belgium), Violette Szabo (France), and Noor Inayat Khan (Russia). All three served within the Special Operations Executive during World War II. As of November 2023 there are 12 living recipients. [6]

Individual awards

This list contains all George Cross recipients including former recipients of the Empire Gallantry Medal, the Albert Medal or the Edward Medal who exchanged their earlier award for the George Cross.

The table defaults to sorting alphabetically by name. When sorting by the heading "Rank (or Role)", military ranks take precedence, followed by police ranks and then all civilian roles. Military ranks are sorted by the comparative rank of the recipient within the British Armed Forces, where the Royal Navy takes precedence, followed by the British Army and then Royal Air Force.

It is customary for Indian and Nepalese names to be written with the family name first, which is followed below unless their citation dictates otherwise. [7]

  This along with an * (asterisk) indicates that the gazetted award was posthumous.
  This along with ** indicates the individual is alive as of 15 July 2024 [6]

George Cross recipients
NameRank (or Role)OrganisationAwardDate gazettedImage
Edmund Geoffrey Abbott Royal Navy AM
George Fawcett Pitts Abbott Royal Naval Reserve AM
George John Adamson River Traffic Police, Calcutta, Bengal EGM
Thomas Edward Alder British Army EGM
Thomas Hopper Alderson Air Raid Precautions GC
Yousef Hussein Ali Bey Transjordan Frontier Force EGM
Florence Alice Allen
AM
Ernest Allport Bentley Colliery Mine Rescue Team EM
Frederick Christie Anderson Royal Navy EGM
Walter Anderson Royal Air Force EGM
Wallace Launcelot Andrews British Army EGM
Mateen Ahmed Ansari 7th Rajput Regiment GC
Bertram Stuart Trevelyan Archer Royal Engineers GC
Robert Selby Armitage Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve GC
Reginald William Armytage Royal Navy AM
Walter Arnold Royal Air Force EGM
Doreen Ashburnham-Ruffner
AM Ashburnham and Western.jpg
Ashraf-un-Nisa Begum
EGM
Thomas Atkinson British Army EGM
Awang anak Raweng Federation of Malaya GC
John Axon British Railways GC
John Herbert Babington Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve GC
Eric George Bailey New South Wales Police Force GC Sergeant Eric Bailey GC.jpg
George Stewart Bain-Smith British Army AM
John Thomas Baker Trainee Coalminer
EM
Arthur Gerald Bagot Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve AM
Singh Baldev EGM
Wilson Charles Geoffrey Baldwin
EM
John (Jack) Bamford
GC
Arthur Banks Desert Air Force GC
Herbert John Leslie Barefoot Royal Engineers GC
Barkat Singh EGM
William Barnett EGM
Arnold Barraclough EGM
Norman Baster Colliery Agent
EM
Gordon Love Bastian AM
William Frederick Baxter
EM
Clive Cyril Anthony Bayley EGM
George William Beaman
EM
John Beattie
EGM
James Wallace Beaton ** Metropolitan Police Force GC
John Archibald Beckett Royal Air Force GC
John Frederick Bell
EGM
Michael Paul Benner Royal Engineers GC
Bhim Singh Yadava EGM
Bhupendra Narayan Singh
EGM
Kenneth Alfred Biggs Royal Army Ordnance Corps GC
Richard Blackburn EGM
Sydney Blackburn
EM
Michael Floud Blaney Royal Engineers GC
Henry George Blogg CoxswainCromer Lifeboat EGM Henry Blogg 1 Feb 2008 (1).JPG
Theodore Bogdanovitch EGM
David Noel Booker
EM
Samuel Booker
EM
Douglas Alexander Brett EGM
John Bridge Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve GC John Bridge GC.jpg
David Broadfoot Merchant NavyMV Princess Victoria GC
Francis Haffey Brooke-Smith Royal Naval Reserve GC
Arthur Brooks EGM
David Brown
EM
Richard Leslie Brown AM
Oliver Campbell Bryson AM
Henry Buckle AM
John Burke
EGM
Herbert Edgar Burton
EGM
Arthur Richard Cecil Butson
AM
William John Button EGM
Richard Arthur Samuel Bywater Ministry of Supply GC
Alexander Fraser Campbell Royal Engineers GC
Michael Patrick Campion EGM
Horace James Cannon AM
Jack Chalmers
AM
Robert Mills Chalmers EGM
Frederick Chant EGM
John Daniel Charlton
EM
Wilson Hodgson Charlton Royal Air Force GC
Harold Francis Charrington Assistant Civil EngineerAir Ministry Works Department, Middle East Command EGM
Frederick William Child
EGM
Joseph Clark
EGM
Azariah Clarke
EM
Donald Owen Clarke Merchant Navy GC
Walter Charles Cleall
AM
John Clements Sherrardswood School GC
Gerald Charles Neil Close EGM
Anthony John Cobham EGM
Dennis Arthur Copperwheat Royal Navy, HMS Penelope GC
John Guise Cowley British Army, Royal Engineers AM
Frederick John Cradock
GC
Bert Craig
EM
Bertram Frederick Crosby
EM
Edwin Crossley
EGM
Matthew Croucher ** 40 Commando, Royal Marines Reserve GC Cadets and organiser with LC Matt Croucher RM GC (cropped).jpg
Peter Victor Danckwerts Royal Naval Reserve GC Lieutenant Peter Danckwerts, GC, RNVR, 1941.jpg
Richard Edward Darker Bentley Colliery EM
Frederick Davies National Fire Service GC
Robert Davies Royal Engineers GC
Thomas Neil Davis AM
Harry Melville Arbuthnot Day Lieutenant (acting) AM
Richard Deedes EGM
Hubert Dinwoodie Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve GC
Ditto Ram Central India Horse [47] GC
John Dixon
EM
Albert George Dolphin South Eastern Hospital, London GC
Raymond Tasman Donoghue Metropolitan Transport Trust, Hobart, Tasmania GC Raymond Donoghue.jpg
Robert Ewing Douglas EGM
John Noel Dowland Royal Air Force GC RAF George Cross Recipients HU3113.jpg
Baptista Joseph D'Souza
EGM
Charles Godfrey Duffin HM Dockyard, Portsmouth EGM
Charles Alfred Duncan 4th Battalion, Parachute Regiment GC
Mahmood Khan Durrani 1st Bahawalpur Infantry, British Indian Army GC
William Marsden Eastman Royal Army Ordnance Corps GC
Jack Maynard Cholmondeley Easton Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve GC
Arthur Frederick Edwards EM
Reginald Vincent Ellingworth HMS Vernon GC
Bernard George Ellis AM
Ernest Matthew Elston EGM
Errol John Emanuel Territory of Papua New Guinea GC
Harry Errington London Auxiliary Fire Service GC
David Hywel Evans AM
John Fairclough AM
Frederick William Fairfax Metropolitan Police Force GC
John Henry Farr
EGM
Kenneth Farrow AM
Francis Anthony Blair Fasson HMS Petard, Royal Navy GC
Rashid Abdul Fattah EGM
Christopher Feetham AM
Christopher Finney ** Blues and Royals GC
Bernard Fisher
EM
William George Fleming CoxswainGorleston Lifeboat EGM William Flemming.jpg
Donald Fletcher
EM
Henry Harwood Flintoff Farm labourer
EM
Albert Ford AM
Douglas Ford Royal Scots GC
William George Foster 7th Wiltshire Battalion, Home Guard GC
Leslie Owen Fox London County Council Heavy Rescue Service GC
Harriet Elizabeth Fraser AM
John Alexander Fraser Hong Kong Colonial Service GC John Alexander Fraser.jpg
Ernest Ralph Clyde Frost EGM
Mohi-ud-Din Ghulam EGM
John Edward Gibbons AM
Stanley Frederick Gibbs
AM Stanley Gibbs P04794.002.JPG
Michael Gibson Royal Engineers GC
Ernest Oliver Gidden Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve GC
Ivor John Gillett Royal Air Force GC
Benjamin Gimbert London and North Eastern Railway GC
Anthony John Gledhill ** Metropolitan Police Force GC
Roger Philip Goad Metropolitan Police Force GC
William Goad AM
Abdus Samad Abdul Wahid Golandaz
EGM Abdul Samad Golandaz, detail.jpg
Leon Verdi Goldsworthy HMS Vernon, Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve GC Leon Goldsworthy 081383.JPG
George Herbert Goodman HMS Vernon, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve GC
John Ingram Gough
EM
George Gosse HMS Vernon, Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve GC George Gosse 081387.jpg
Reginald Cubitt Graveley EGM
Karl Mander Gravell Royal Canadian Air Force GC
Hector Bertram Gray Royal Air Force GC
Roderick Borden Gray Royal Canadian Air Force GC Roderick Gray GC.jpg
Colin Grazier HMS Petard, Royal Navy GC Able Seaman, Colin Grazier Memorial (3) - geograph.org.uk - 1002037 (cropped).jpg
John Sedgwick Gregson AM
Stewart Graeme Guthrie New Zealand Police GC
Kevin Howard Haberfield ** Royal Marines GC
Fred Haller
EM
William George Hand EGM
Benjamin Gower Hardy 22nd Australian Garrison Battalion GC Ben Hardy GC AWM 081385.jpg
Charles Thomas Harris EM
Roy Thomas Harris Air Raid Precautions GC
Barbara Jane Harrison British Overseas Airways Corporation GC
George Willet Harrison EGM
Leonard Henry Harrison Air Ministry GC
Harrie Stephen Harwood AM
Percy Roberts Havercroft Colliery Worker
EM
Eynon Hawkins AM
David George Montagu Hay AM
El Amin Effendi Hemeida EGM
Albert Edward Heming Civil Defence Rescue Service GC
George Campbell Henderson Gibraltar Dockyard Fire Service GC
George Henderson.jpg
Herbert Reuben Henderson
EGM
James Hendry Royal Canadian Engineers GC
James Hendry GC.jpg
George Henshaw EGM
George Christopher Heslop Mine ManagerLoftus Ironstone Mine EM
William Ewart Hiscock HMS St Angelo, Royal Navy GC
Alexander Mitchell Hodge EGM
Vivian Hollowday Royal Air Force GC Vivian Hollowday GC.jpg
Kenneth Horsfield Manchester Regiment (attached Special Air Service) GC SmallKenoriginal.jpg
Albert Howarth AM
Murray Ken Hudson Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment GC
Joseph Hughes Royal Army Service Corps GC
Kim Spencer Hughes ** Royal Logistic Corps GC
Thomas Hulme
EM
Patrick Noel Humphreys EGM
John Hutchinson
EM
Albert James Hutchison AM
Taha Idris EGM
George Walter Inwood 30th Warwickshire Battalion, Home Guard GC George Walter Inwood.png
Islam-ud-Din 9th Jat Regiment, British Indian Army GC
Thomas Jameson
EM
William Jamieson
EGM
Robert Llewellyn Jephson-Jones Royal Army Ordnance Corps GC
Barry Johnson ** British ArmyRoyal Army Ordnance Corps GC
James Johnston Mohpani Coal Mine, India EM
Richard Frank Jolly EGM
Benjamin Littler Jones
EM
Ralph Jones 22nd Australian Garrison Battalion GC Ralph Jones GC AWM 081386.jpg
Robert Murray Kavanaugh
AM Robert Murray Kavanaugh.png
Cecil Francis Kelly Port Commissioners, Calcutta, Bengal EGM
Thomas Raymond Kelly Merchant Navy GC
André Gilbert Kempster Royal Armoured Corps GC
James Stirratt Topping Kennedy British Rail Engineering Limited GC
Ernest William Kent
EM
Michael Sullivan Keogh AM
Muhammad Khalifa EGM
Noor Inayat Khan Special Operations Executive GC Noor Inayat Khan.jpeg
Derek Godfrey Kinne Royal Northumberland Fusiliers GC
Richard Henry King
EM
Kirpa Ram Frontier Force Regiment, British Indian Army GC
Richard John Knowlton Royal Navy AM
Simmon Latutin Somerset Light Infantry GC
Walter Holroyd Lee
EM
Raymond Mayhew Lewin Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve GC
Robert Stead Little
EM
William Lloyd
EM
George Locke
EM
John Niven Angus Low EGM
Alfred Raymond Lowe ** AM
Alfred Lungley EGM
Joseph Lynch AM
Horace William Madden Royal Australian Regiment GC Portrait of Bill Madden.jpg
Herbert John Mahoney EGM
Reginald Harry Maltby EGM
Thomas George Manwaring
EM
Frederick Hamilton March
EGM Frederick Hamilton March AWM P03444.001.jpg
Cyril Arthur Joseph Martin Royal Engineers GC
Dudley William Mason Merchant Navy GC SS-Ohio Master.jpg
Mata Din EGM
Lionel Colin Matthews Royal Australian Corps of Signals GC Lionel Colin Matthews.jpg
Alexander Henry Maxwell-Hyslop AM
Phillip Robert Stephen May AM
William Simpson McAloney AM
Thomas McAvoy EGM
John McCabe
EM
John McCabe
EGM
William Henry Debonnaire McCarthy AM
John McIntosh McClymont EGM
Thomas William McCormack
AM
William Neil McKechnie EGM
Thomas Patrick McTeague EGM
Albert John Meadows
EM
Arthur Douglas Merriman Ministry of Supply GC
Alfred Miles AM
Leonard John Miles Air Raid Precautions GC
Henry James Miller EGM
John Bryan Peter Miller Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve GC
Thomas Frank Miller EGM
Ahmed Muhammad Mirghany
EGM
John Henry Mitchell AM
Richard Valentine Moore Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve GC
Alfred Ernest Morris
EM
Francis Austin Morteshed EGM
William Radenhurst Mosedale City of Birmingham Fire Brigade GC
Brandon Moss Coventry Constabulary GC Brandon Moss GM (cropped).jpg
Joseph Edward Mott EGM
John Stuart Mould Royal Australian Naval Reserve attached HMS Vernon GC John Mould GC AWM 061954A.jpg
Eric Lawrence Moxey Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve GC Eric Lawrence Moxey 2.png
Muhammad Abdulla Muhammad EGM
Michael Joseph Munnelly The People GC
Robert Laurence Nairac Grenadier Guards GC
Nandlal Thapa Naik British Indian Army8th Gurkha Rifles EGM
Frank Naughton British ArmyRoyal Tank Corps EGM
Ibrahim Negib EGM
Harold Reginald Newgass Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve GC
Alfred William Newman AM
Lanceray Arthur Newnham The Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own) GC
Arthur Frederick Crane Nicholls Special Operations Executive GC
James William Nightall London and North Eastern Railway GC
George Paterson Niven EGM
Frank Emery Nix
EM
Peter Allen Norton ** British ArmyRoyal Logistic Corps GC Major Peter Norton GC (cropped).jpg
Patrick Albert O'Leary (Albert-Marie Edmond Guérrise) Special Operations Executive GC 'Pat O'leary' concentration camp portrait by Brian Stonehouse.jpg
Wallace Arnold Oakes British Rail GC
Leo Francis O'Hagen Explosive Worker Royal Gunpowder Factory EGM
Dick Oliver AM
Edward Omara
EGM
Samuel Orr EGM
Albert Matthew Osborne Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve GC RAF George Cross Recipients HU3115.jpg
John Michael O'Shea
EGM
Edward Donald J. Parker EGM
Graham Leslie Parish Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve GC
John MacMillan Stevenson Patton Royal Canadian Engineers GC
Joan Daphne Mary Pearson EGM Daphne Pearson GC.jpg
Robert Pearson
EM
Pir Khan EGM
James Pollitt
EM
Michael Kenneth Pratt ** Victoria Police GC
Rev. Herbert Cecil Pugh Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve GC
James Sidney Purvis
EM
John Alan Quinton Royal Air Force GC JAQ photo.jpg
Geoffrey Rackham AM
Abdul Rahman 9th Jat Regiment, British Indian Army GC
Rangit Singh
EGM
Henry Herbert Reed Royal Artillery GC
James Arthur Reeves AM
John Rennie The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada (Princess Louise's) GC John Rennie.jpg
Edward Womersley Reynolds EGM
William Ernest Rhoades AM
Richard Walter Richards
AM
Gerald Irving Richardson Lancashire Constabulary GC
Randolph Gordon Ridling AM
Geoffrey Riley
AM
Reginald Rimmer EGM
Paul Douglas Robertson AM
Harry Robinson
EM
George David Rodriques EGM
Jonathan Rogers Royal Australian Navy GC Jonathan Rogers GC.jpg
Sydney George Rogerson Royal Army Ordnance Corps GC
Arthur Dwight Ross Royal Canadian Air Force GC Arthur Dwight Ross.jpg
John Samuel Rowlands Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve GC
David Russell 22nd Battalion (New Zealand) GC
Richard John Hammersley Ryan HMS President GC
Odette Sansom
Special Operations Executive GC Odette Sansom.jpg
Robert Benjamin Saunders
EM
Carl Mallinson Schofield
EM
Olaf Sean George Schmid Royal Logistic Corps GC
James Patrick Scully Pioneer Corps GC James Scully.jpg
Hugh Paul Seagrim Special Operations Executive GC
Stanley William Sewell Explosive Worker Royal Gunpowder Factory EGM
Joseph Shanley
EM
Samuel Shephard ** Lieutenant Royal Marines GC
John William Hersey Shepherd
EM
Joseph Henry Silk Somerset Light Infantry GC
Laurence Frank Sinclair Royal Air Force GC
Charles Smith
EM
Anthony Smith Civil Defence Rescue Service GC
Kenneth Smith Royal Corps of Signals GC
Oliver Soulsby Bentley Colliery EM
Bennett Southwell [55] HMS Vernon GC
Brian Spillett
GC
Kenneth Gerald Spooner Royal Canadian Air Force GC Kenneth Spooner GC.jpg
Robert Spoors AM
John George Stanners AM
Henry William Stevens Metropolitan Police GC
James Ernest Stewart EGM
John Stoves EGM
George Preston Stronach Merchant Navy GC
Stephen George Styles British ArmyRoyal Army Ordnance Corps GC
Subramanian Queen Victoria's Own Madras Miners & Sappers GC
Charles Howard, 20th Earl of Suffolk Ministry of Supply GC Lord Suffolk.jpg
Frank Sykes Bentley Colliery EM
William George Sylvester Explosive Worker Royal Gunpowder Factory EGM
Hugh Randall Syme Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve GC Hugh Syme P05468.JPG
Violette Reine Elizabeth Szabo Special Operations Executive GC Violette Szabo IWM photo.jpg
El Jak Effendi Taha EGM
Ellis Edward Arthur Chetwynd Talbot EGM
Charles William Tandy-Green
EGM
George Anthony Morgan Taylor Commonwealth Bureau of Mineral Resources GC GAM "Tony" Taylor GC AWM081388.jpg
Patrick Gordon Taylor
EGM Patrick Taylor.jpg
Robert George Taylor Newspaper advertising representative
GC Imperial War Museum Vc and Gc Collection GC364.jpg
William Horace Taylor Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve GC
Samuel Jarrett Temperley Bentley Colliery EM
Arthur Devere Thomas
EM
Dorothy Louise Thomas
EGM
Thomas Thomas
EM
Jenkin Robert Oswald Thompson Royal Army Medical Corps GC
Matthew Thompson
EM
Anthony Henry Hamilton Tollemache EGM
Emma Jose Townsend
EGM
Frederick Henry Troake EGM
Dominic Charles Troulan **
GC
Stephen John Tuckwell Royal Navy GC
Norman Tunna Great Western Railway GC
Geoffrey Gledhill Turner Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve GC
James Gordon Melville Turner EGM
Cyril James Tutton
EGM
Albert Tyler
EM
Margaret Vaughan (Purves)
AM
Carl Walker Lancashire Constabulary GC
Charles Henry Walker AM
Eric William Kevin Walton AM
Granville Charles Wastie
EM
Albert Waterfield
EGM
Terence Edward Waters British ArmyWest Yorkshire Regiment GC
William Waterson
EM
Victor Albert Watson AM
Eric Watt-Bonar EGM
John Weller
EM
Percy Barnard Weller
EM
David Charles Western
AM
Thomas Atkinson Whitehead
EM
Charles Wilcox
EM
Robert Wild
EGM
Michael Willetts British ArmyParachute Regiment GC
Osmond Williams
EM
Sidney Williams AM
Harry Wilson
EM
Sidney Noel Wiltshire EGM
Gerald Winter
EGM
Hilda Elizabeth Wolsey
AM
Stanley James Woodbridge Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve GC
Ernest Alfred Wooding AM
Mark Wright 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment GC
George Cameron Wyllie Royal Engineers GC
Ahmed Yar EGM
Philip William Yates Bentley Colliery EM
El Imam Yehia EGM
Forest Frederick Edward Yeo-Thomas Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve GC
Archibald Young
EM
St John Graham Young The Central India Horse (21st King George V's Own Horse) GC
William Younger
EM

List of 407 individual George Cross recipients with note whether original or exchange award. The three collective are not listed. [123]

Group awards

By express instruction of King George VI, the Island of Malta has been awarded the George Cross collectively in perpetuity. In a letter to Malta's Governor (Lieutenant-General Sir William Dobbie) dated 15 April 1942, King George VI awarded the George Cross "to the Island Fortress of Malta to bear witness to a heroism and devotion that will long be famous in history". Dobbie replied: "By God's help Malta will not weaken but will endure until victory is won."

In a similar manner, Queen Elizabeth II awarded the Royal Ulster Constabulary the George Cross on 23 November 1999. Buckingham Palace announced that it was awarded "to honour the courage and dedication of the officers of the Royal Ulster Constabulary and their families who have shared their hardship". [124] Queen Elizabeth II presented it in person at Hillsborough Castle, County Down. On 4 November 2001, the Royal Ulster Constabulary was reorganised and renamed as the Police Service of Northern Ireland with most former RUC officers remaining in the new organisation . [125]

On 5 July 2021, on the 73rd anniversary of the NHS, and during the global COVID-19 pandemic, the Queen awarded the George Cross to the National Health Service staff of the United Kingdom. The Queen wrote in a personal message: "It is with great pleasure, on behalf of a grateful nation, that I award the George Cross to the National Health Services of the United Kingdom. This award recognises all NHS staff, past and present, across all disciplines and all four nations. Over more than seven decades, and especially in recent times, you have supported the people of our country with courage, compassion and dedication, demonstrating the highest standards of public service. You have our enduring thanks and heartfelt appreciation. Elizabeth R." [126]

See also

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References

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General