Brief History below, be interesting to see if Australia follows the same tradition and casts the medals from captured guns using the same supplier.
The VC was created by Royal Warrant on 29 January 1856, backdated to 1854 to recognise acts of valour during the Crimean War of 1854-1855. The first award ceremony was on 26 June 1857.
It is widely believed that all VCs are cast from the bronze cascabels of two cannon of Chinese origin that were captured from the Russians at the siege of Sevastopol, except during the First World War when metal from guns captured from the Chinese during the Boxer Rebellion was also used. However, a 2006 book on the VC's history by historian John Glanfield calls the traditional account into question, arguing that it is impossible that the metal used for VCs made before 1914 really does come from the Sevastopol guns.[2] 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, has been responsible for the production of every VC awarded since its inception.
