Afritrex - The Victoria Cross Challenge
Visit all 180 Victoria Cross Award sites in Africa
It was whilst working at the Royal Star & Garter Home, that Ben came up with the idea of the VC 180 Challenge as it reflects the military background of the charity and also gives a very different route down through the continent than the standard ‘Cape to Cairo’ journey which is regularly used by overlanders today.
The VC 180 Challenge involves visiting all of the sites in Africa where the Victoria Cross has been won for outstanding acts of gallantry by soldiers of the Commonwealth.
After researching into where all of the sites are located, it was found that some of them fall within the borders of countries we can’t visit and were advised to stay away from for our own safety. Somalia, Eritrea and Algeria are the most obvious because to their volatile political situations.
The majority of VC sites are located around the northern coastline of Africa, where most of the recent conflicts took place around the Mediterranean during the 1st and 2nd world wars, and throughout Southern Africa following the Zulu War of 1879.
In all there were 180 VC’s awarded for acts of courage on African soil, a number of these were awarded during the same conflict and at the same location, which leaves us with 71 separate locations to visit in 12 countries.
‘Our aim is to visit as many of these sites as possible’
The map below illustrates where these sites are, and how their locations have affected our choice of route to enable us to visit as many as possible.
This map will be replaced by an accurate one!
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As part of the documentary we'll be filming about the VC180 challenge we've chosen to focus on five recipients whose stories, locations and history we've researched. To find out more about each of these heroes click on the relevant link below.
- Private Samuel Hodge
- Lieut. Wilbur Dartnell
- Wallace Duffield Wright
- James Henry Reynolds
- Samuel Wassall
- Phillip Gardener
History of the Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest recognition for valour "in the face of the enemy" that can be awarded to members of the armed forces of some Commonwealth countries — and before them some British Empire personnel. It may be awarded to a person of any rank in any service, and civilians under military command. The Victoria Cross was introduced in 1856 and has been awarded 1,356 times.
Origin
In 1854, after 40 years of peace, Britain found itself fighting a major war against Russia. The Crimean War was one of the first wars modern style reporting with William Howard Russell dispatches describing many acts of bravery and valour that went unrewarded. This was primarily because at the time only officers were awarded for acts of bravery, usually with the junior grade of the Order of the Bath. Yet there was no such equivalent medal for junior officers, Non Commissioned Officers (NCOs), or ordinary soldiers or sailors. There was a growing feeling that a new award was needed to recognise incidents of gallantry that were unconnected with a man's lengthy or meritorious service. So the VC was created by Royal Warrant on 29 January 1856, 
backdated to 1854 to recognise acts of valour during the Crimean War. The Victoria Cross was created by Queen Victoria to be a new decoration which should be highly prized and eagerly sought after by those in the military services. The warrant stated that the Victoria Cross would only be awarded to soldiers who have served in the presence of the enemy and had performed some signal act of valour or devotion. The first ceremony was held on 26 June 1857 where Queen Victoria invested 62 of the 111 Crimean recipients in a ceremony in Hyde Park.
It is widely believed that all VCs are cast from the bronze cascabels of two cannons of Chinese origin that were captured from the Russians at the siege of Sevastopol except those made during the First World War when metal captured from Chinese guns during the Boxer Rebellion was also used. 
However historian John Glanfield argues in his book that X-Rays of VCs prove that the metal used for VCs made before 1914 is different to those from the Sevastopol guns used currently. Also, the Sevastopol metal went missing between 1942 and 1945, when another source of metal was used to make five Second World War VCs.
The barrels of the cannon in question are stationed outside the Officers' Mess at the Royal Artillery Barracks at Woolwich. The remaining portion of the only remaining cascabel, weighing 358 oz (10 kg), is stored in a vault by 15 Regiment Royal Logistic Corps at Donnington, Telford. It can only be removed under armed guard. It is estimated that approximately 80 to 85 more VCs could be cast from this source. A single company of jewellers, Hancocks of London, Hancock's has been responsible for the production of every VC awarded since its inception.
Appearance
Victoria Cross medal, ribbon, and bar.
The decoration is a cross pattée, 41 mm high, 36 mm wide, bearing a crown surmounted by a lion, and the inscription FOR VALOUR This was originally to have been FOR BRAVERY, until it was changed on the recommendation of Queen Victoria, who thought some might erroneously consider that only the recipients of the VC were brave in battle. The decoration, suspension bar and link weigh about 0.87 troy ounces (27 g).
The cross is suspended by a ring from a seriffed "V" to a bar ornamented with laurel leaves, through which the ribbon passes. The reverse of the suspension bar is engraved with the recipient's name, rank, number and unit. On the reverse of the medal is a circular panel on which the date of the act for which it was awarded is engraved in the centre.
The ribbon is crimson(red in the warrants), 1.5 inches (38 mm) wide. The original (1856) specification for the award stated that the ribbon should be red for army recipients and blue for naval ones. However the dark blue ribbon was abolished with the formation of the Royal Air Force on 1 April 1918, and living recipients of the naval version were required to exchange their ribbons for crimson ones.
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