LONDON, March 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Lord Ashcroft’s assortment of Victoria Crosses and George Crosses is to have a brand new residence on the Nationwide Military Museum in London.
The gathering is the biggest of its type on the planet. It has been constructed up by Lord Ashcroft over the previous 40 years and contains practically 250 VCs and a smaller variety of GCs. It was beforehand housed on the Imperial Struggle Museum, London, which closed the Lord Ashcroft Gallery in September final yr after 15 years.
The_Lord_Ashcroft_Medal_Collection
Lord Ashcroft spoke in the present day of his delight on the information: “I’m thrilled to have discovered such an outstanding location for this distinctive assortment of gallantry medals. I’m so happy that these VCs and GCs, spanning many main wars and conflicts of the previous two centuries, will now be loved by the general public as soon as once more.
“The Nationwide Military Museum shares my ardour for the decorations themselves and likewise to inform the unimaginable tales of bravery that go together with them. I sit up for an extended and glad partnership with the Museum for a few years to return.”
Justin Maciejewski, the Director of the Nationwide Military Museum, stated: “We’re honoured to be entrusted with these VCs and GCs from the Lord Ashcroft Medal Assortment. We’re grateful to Lord Ashcroft for his continued generosity and dedication in championing these tales of extraordinary braveness.
“The Nationwide Military Museum shares the historical past and heritage of our troopers throughout the globe and down the centuries. Inside that wider narrative, these medals, and the person acts of extraordinary bravery and valour they symbolize, type a robust a part of the Military’s story.”
Chris Finney, a Trustee of the Nationwide Military Museum and the Chair of the VC and GC Affiliation, stated: “This uncommon and expansive assortment spans centuries of army service, sacrifice, and extraordinary bravery throughout the Armed Forces.
“We’re privileged to be given the chance to share these medals—and the inspiring private tales they symbolize—with guests, and on-line for the broader public, the place they will proceed to encourage folks of all ages for generations to return.”
Lord Ashcroft started his assortment of VCs in 1986 with the acquisition of a single medal group at public sale. The VC, instituted by Queen Victoria in 1856, is Britain and the Commonwealth’s most prestigious ornament for valour within the presence of the enemy. The GC, created by George VI in 1940, is Britain and the Commonwealth’s most prestigious ornament for gallantry not within the presence of the enemy and it has been awarded to a number of civilians for acts of valour.
Lord Ashcroft’s VCs and GCs are a part of the broader Lord Ashcroft Medal Assortment, which incorporates Particular Forces decorations and medals for valour within the skies and at sea. Lord Ashcroft’s lengthy ardour for gallantry awards was initially impressed by his late father, Eric, who as a younger officer took half within the D-Day Landings on June 6 1944.
Lord Ashcroft’s assortment of VCs contains certainly one of simply three VCs and Bars—the equal of two VCs—which were awarded over the previous 170 years. That is the medal group awarded to Captain Noel Chavasse VC & Bar, MC, a medical officer who served and was killed in the course of the Nice Struggle.
Following the closure of the earlier gallery, Lord Ashcroft has made his assortment accessible digitally by his web site. This new partnership with the Nationwide Military Museum will enable the general public to go to the gathering and be impressed by the exceptional tales they symbolize.
The VC and GC assortment will go on show on the Nationwide Military Museum inside the subsequent two years. Within the meantime, from July onwards a few of Lord Ashcroft’s medals will go on show on the museum, together with pop-up exhibitions.
As the house of the Military’s historical past and heritage, the Nationwide Military Museum will probably be displaying gadgets from the Lord Ashcroft Medal Assortment alongside its current collections of objects, archives and artworks, telling the tales of troopers and their service—together with the origins of the Victoria Cross within the Crimean Struggle.
Lord Ashcroft’s VCs and GCs will probably be shared on a long-term mortgage with the Nationwide Military Museum. Alongside their show, the Museum is planning a programme of exhibitions, instructional assets, talks, excursions and digital content material exploring the human tales of braveness behind the decorations.
Additional particulars of the brand new partnership between Lord Ashcroft and the Nationwide Military Museum regarding the show of his VC and GC assortment will probably be launched over the approaching months.
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The Nationwide Military Museum shares the historical past and heritage of our troopers and their service within the Military, throughout the globe and down the centuries. Via our collections we discover the historical past of the Military from its origins to the current day. We intention to have interaction and encourage everybody with the tales of our troopers and the way their service shapes our world; previous, current and future.
