Deeds of Heroes: The Story of the Distinguished Conduct Medal 1854-1993 - Hardcover

Matthew Richardson offers up an embarrassment of riches in his excellent history of the Distinguished Conduct Medal. The strength of the book is a procession of pen portraits of a long list of holders from Crimea to Iraq. Matthew Richardson deserves credit for this wonderful book. Even if you are not interested in medals, the portraits he writes bring a truly glorious group to light and it would be nice to see works like this for other award winners we revere. - War History Online

For over 100 years the Distinguished Conduct Medal - the DCM - was the second highest medal that could be awarded for gallantry to the other ranks of the British army and in some cases also the RAF and Royal Navy, yet the holders of this major award have rarely been given the recognition they deserve. And while the heroic exploits of recipients of the Victoria Cross have been the subject of repeated accounts, DCM holders have largely been ignored in print.But now in this graphic narrative history Matthew Richardson sets the record straight by describing the conspicuous courage of men who have been awarded the DCM in the Crimean and the colonial wars, in the two world wars, and during recent conflicts in the Falklands and the Gulf. Told often in their own words, their extraordinary acts of bravery and selfsacrifice are the central focus of his book. Characters such as Frank Bourne, who received the award for his conduct at Rorke's Drift, are celebrated here, as is John Brown who received his DCM for work inside a German prisoner of war camp in the Second World War, John Meredith who was awarded his DCM for leadership while a prisoner of the Japanese on the Burma railway, and Peter Ratcliffe who was given the DCM for an SAS mission in the Gulf. But alongside these famous names are the many, many other DCM holders of equal gallantry whom history has overlooked.Profusely illustrated with photographs from the author's collection including DCM holders from the Boer War, Gallipoli, the Western Front, and the battlefields of the Second World War, Matthew Richardson's book will appeal to everyone who is interested in British military history.