Metal for VC's

[trajan]

This has appeared in the Observer/Guardian - https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/may/03/show-your-mettle-victoria-cross-not-made-of-captured-russian-guns-after-all

[NigelS]

Isn't this 'old news', I understood that it had been established some years ago that the metal used has not always been from a Crimean gun/guns? 2005 Daily Telegraph article: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1506463/Author-explodes-myth-of-the-gunmetal-VC.html 

 

NigelS

[trajan]

17 minutes ago, NigelS said:

Isn't this 'old news', I understood that it had been established some years ago that the metal used has not always been from a Crimean gun/guns? 2005 Daily Telegraph article: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1506463/Author-explodes-myth-of-the-gunmetal-VC.html 

 

NigelS

 

I don't go for pay walls so disn't read the article, so maybe it was 'established' then - but as I understand it, in this case it is proven by XRF analysis that different metals were used at different times. It's rather like the myth that German 'Ersatz' bayonet blades were made of cheaper steel - not true, XRF shows they were the same quality as - and in some clases superior to - regular German WW 1 bayonets. 

[NigelS]

Apologies, I hadn't realised that this particular article was behind a paywall, but it covered the earlier, to me very similar, work of a Dr Glanfield author of 'Bravest of the Brave' a history of the VC published on the 150th anniversary of its instigation 

 Author explodes myth of the gunmetal VC

By Catriona Davies12:01AM GMT 28 Dec 2005 https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1506463/Author-explodes-myth-of-the-gunmetal-VC.html
The belief that every Victoria Cross, Britain's highest military honour, is made from cannon captured during the Crimean War is nothing more than a myth, says a book marking the 150th anniversary of the medal.
John Glanfield, a historian and author of Bravest of the Brave, to be published next month, claims to have exposed the truth about the metal used to make the awards.
It has long been believed that all 1,351 Victoria Crosses awarded have been made of bronze taken from two Russian cannon captured at the siege of Sebastopol and kept in the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich.
The Victoria Cross was instituted on Jan 29, 1856, as the supreme gallantry award and the first to recognise servicemen's brave acts regardless of rank.
The priceless lump of metal, of which there remains enough for a further 85 crosses, is kept in a vault at the Royal Logistic Corps in Donnington, Shropshire. It can be removed only under guard.
By studying historical documents and scientific analysis, Glanfield claims that the Woolwich cannon were not used until 1914, 58 years after the first Victoria Crosses had been produced.
He also says that the precious ingot disappeared during the Second World War, so a different metal was used for five crosses awarded between 1942 and 1945.
"I was astonished," he said. "There was an accepted legend and no one had researched whether it was true. When something has been the belief for 150 years it becomes accepted as the truth."
In the book, he says: "No aspect of the history of the Victoria Cross has been so hotly debated or disputed as the origin of the metal from which it is made.
"The truth has become fogged by time, myth and misinformation. Part of the myth is that every cross has been cast from the two [Woolwich] cannon."
The cannon in Woolwich are Chinese-made, although they have often previously been cited as Russian, and Glanfield says that their origin is an "impenetrable mystery".
He said there was no evidence that they had been captured at Sebastopol, the last big battle of the Crimean War, as was often stated. "The Chinese pieces were not the only, or even the first, to contribute VC metal," he said. "An earlier gun provided bronze from the start.
"When the metal ran out in December 1914, the Chinese cannon took over. The football-size cascabels [knobs] were sawn off at the neck and melted down for VC production, starting not in 1856 but nearly 60 years and some 560 crosses later."
Glanfield cites unpublished X-ray analysis of crosses, carried out at the Royal Armouries and the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, showing that those awarded before 1914 were of a different metal from those afterwards. It is only those since 1914 that match the Woolwich cannon.
Furthermore, an estimated 224lb of metal has been taken from the Woolwich cannon. Glanfield said that to make 12 crosses with a combined weight of 10oz or 11oz required 47oz of gunmetal because of the wastage in the process. Therefore the 224lb would have been enough to make the 810 crosses issued since 1914, but not those previously.
Of the disappearance of the ingot in 1942, he said: "The wartime transfer of the VC block from Woolwich Arsenal with tens of thousands of dispersed depots may have rendered it impossible to trace." He said the War Office covered up the crisis at the time.
Glanfield, who began writing after he retired as a director of the Earl's Court and Olympia exhibition centres, almost turned down the opportunity to write the book because he thought there was nothing new to learn about the Victoria Cross.
However, he changed his mind because he had been inspired by VC holders he had met in his earlier career.
He said: "I found all of them quiet, self-effacing and considered their acts of gallantry to be just a job. These are supermen and I relished the prospect of writing about them. Researching the book was a humbling and awesome experience."
Glanfield decided to research the origins of the crosses themselves, a project that took eight months, because previous histories had concentrated on the recipients and their deeds

 

NigelS

Edited 3 May , 2020 by NigelS

[Sepoy]

The two Chinese canons used to provide the bronze for the Victoria Crosses (minus cascabels) are on display at the Royal Armouries Museum, Fort Nelson, Portsmouth.

Sepoy

[Sepoy]

Some photographs from my last trip to the Museum in 2018.

[trajan]

Thanks NigelS and Sepoy,

 

Interesting! I must try to find out what the Post-Med Archaeology article is all about, but I see that the DTele. article has "Glanfield cites unpublished X-ray analysis of crosses, carried out at the Royal Armouries and the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, showing that those awarded before 1914 were of a different metal from those afterwards. It is only those since 1914 that match the Woolwich cannon." So, perhaps more research on actual metal samples? XRF, by the way, in case you and/or others don't know only penetrates the top few mm of an item - can't remember exactly how deep off-hand so perhaps the latest researcher got a slice from the metal still in stock?