Episode 45 - The Victoria Cross and the Price of Valour

On this episode of The Rum Ration, Rejoy and Colin take on one of the most revered and sobering subjects in British and Commonwealth military history: the Victoria Cross. Beginning with the astonishing story of Charles Upham, the only combat soldier to receive both a Victoria Cross and Bar in the same war, they explore what the VC is, why it was revolutionary, and why it still carries such weight. The episode traces the medal’s origins in the Crimean War, its place as an all-ranks award for conspicuous valour, and the myths and meaning wrapped up in its bronze cross. Along the way, they highlight Canadian recipients, including Alexander Roberts Dunn, William Hall, Smokey Smith, and Robert Hampton Gray, before, of course, coming home to The Royal Montreal Regiment’s own VC heroes: Francis Scrimger and George Burdon McKean. It is ultimately an episode about courage, sacrifice, and the human choices made under the worst imaginable pressure.