The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories.

It takes precedence over all other orders, decorations and medals. It may be awarded to a person of any rank in any service and to civilians under military command. In the United Kingdom, it is usually presented to the recipient or to their next of kin by the British monarch at an investiture held at Buckingham Palace. In other countries where the Monarch of the Commonwealth realms is the head of state, the Governor-General usually fulfils the same function. It is the joint highest award for bravery in the United Kingdom with the George Cross, which is the equivalent honour for valour not in the face of the enemy. However, the VC is higher in the order of wear and would be worn first by an individual who had been awarded both decorations (which has not so far occurred).

The VC was introduced on 29 January 1856 by Queen Victoria to honour acts of valour during the Crimean War. Since then, the medal has been awarded 1,356 times to 1,353 individual recipients. Only 13 medals, nine to members of the British Army, and four to the Australian Army, have been awarded since the Second World War. The traditional explanation of the source of the gunmetal from which the medals are struck is that it derives from Russian cannon captured at the siege of Sevastopol. Recent research has thrown doubt on this story, suggesting a variety of origins for the material actually making up the medals themselves.

Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson (born 11 April 1960) is an English broadcaster, journalist and writer who specialises in motoring. He is best known for his role on the BBC TV show Top Gear along with co-presenters Richard Hammond and James May. He also writes weekly columns for The Sunday Times and The Sun.

From a career as a local journalist in Northern England, Clarkson rose to public prominence as a presenter of the original format of Top Gear in 1988. Since the mid-1990s, Clarkson has become a recognised public personality, regularly appearing on British television presenting his own shows and appearing as a guest on other shows. As well as motoring, Clarkson has produced programmes and books on subjects such as history and engineering. From 1998 to 2000 he also hosted his own chat show, Clarkson.

His opinionated but humorous tongue-in-cheek writing and presenting style has often generated much public reaction to his viewpoints. His actions both privately and as a Top Gear presenter have also sometimes resulted in criticism from the media, politicians, pressure groups and the public.

Mark Gregor Strang Donaldson VC (born 2 April 1979) is the first recipient of the Victoria Cross for Australia, awarded for gallantry, the highest award in the Australian honours system. He is the first Australian recipient of a Victoria Cross since Keith Payne in 1969. Then Trooper Donaldson was a member of the Special Air Service Regiment when he exposed himself to enemy fire to protect injured troops and then rescued an interpreter under heavy enemy fire in Oruzgan province during Operation Slipper, the Australian contribution to the War in Afghanistan. He was awarded the medal by Governor-General of Australia, Quentin Bryce, in a ceremony in Canberra on 16 January 2009. On 25 January 2010, Donaldson was named the Young Australian of the Year 2010. He was promoted to corporal in June 2010.

Donaldson was born on 2 April 1979 at Waratah, New South Wales. The younger son of Greg, a Vietnam veteran, and Bernadette Donaldson he grew up in the small northern New South Wales township of Dorrigo, attending Dorrigo High School, a small state comprehensive co-educational secondary public school, until 1996. In 1995 his father died suddenly of a heart attack and Mark and his brother became wards of Legacy, one of their legatees being a former member of the same Army unit their father had served in.

Bill Henry "Willie" Apiata VC (born 28 June 1972 in Mangakino, New Zealand) is a Corporal in the New Zealand Special Air Service and the first recipient of the Victoria Cross for New Zealand. He received the award on 2 July 2007 for bravery under fire during the Afghanistan conflict in 2004, after carrying a gravely wounded comrade across a battlefield, under fire, to safety.

Apiata is the only recipient of the Victoria Cross for New Zealand, as opposed to the Victoria Cross previously awarded. There are no living New Zealand recipients of the (Imperial) Victoria Cross, which was last awarded to a New Zealander for actions in the Second World War. Between 1864 and 1943, 21 members of the New Zealand forces were awarded the Victoria Cross including Captain Charles Upham, awarded a bar to the Victoria Cross in 1945 for gallantry in Egypt in 1942.

Apiata has donated all of his medals, including his VC, to New Zealand.

In 2008 he succeeded Sir Edmund Hillary as the "most trusted New Zealander".

Joseph-Thomas Kaeble, VC, MM (5 May 1892 – 9 June 1918) was a Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He was the first French Canadian soldier to be decorated with the VC and Military Medal.

He was born on 5 May 1892 in Saint-Moïse, Quebec. Kaeble was a corporal in the 22e Battalion (Canadien Francais) Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War. On 8 June 1918 at Neuville-Vitasse, France, Kaeble performed an act of bravery for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross. He died whilst doing so.

Transported to hospital, Corporal Joseph Kaeble died of his wounds the next night, 9 June.

He was buried in the local cemetery in Wantequin, some seven miles west of Arras (Wantequin memorial/cemetery: Plot II. Row A. Grave 8. Headstone).

At CFB Valcartier, honors to Kaeble include Mount Kaeble, just east of Camp Vimy; a street on the base; and the Kaeble Club, the privates' and corporals' mess.