The Awards of the George Cross, 1940–2009

by John Frayn Turner

Early in WW2, King George VI was deeply impressed by the heroic deeds of servicemen out of the front line and civilian non-combatants in acts connected with the war such as bomb disposal and rescues after air raids. So in September 1940 the King instituted the George Cross for For Gallantry away from the heat of actual battle, to be awarded to civilians and servicemen and women. As the war progressed, the range of deeds increased. In April 1942 the unprecedented award of the GC was made to the entire population of the Island of Malta to honor her brave people. Later the award was made for supreme gallantry to members of the Special Operations Executive, including Violette Szabo and Forest Yeo-Thomas (The White Rabbit). Many were posthumous. The George Cross continued to be awarded in the post war years and up to the present day, and this fine books covers all of these.

Genres: History, Military Fiction

226 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

John Frayn Turner is a British author specializing in military history.

Reviews

[JD · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good book honoring the men and women who have received the award of the George Cross up to 2009. All the stories are about tremendous courage, but some stories are rather short though and the book would have been 5 star if there were just a little more detail in most of them. Well worth the read though.