Published in the Daily Express on 14 July 2025
School holidays are already upon us. This will offer the final opportunity for thousands of children, their parents and many others from all over the UK and beyond to visit the gallery bearing my name at the Imperial War Museum, London.
The Lord Ashcroft Gallery, which the IWM has decided in its “wisdom” must close at the end of September, is home to the world’s largest collection of Victoria Cross (VC) decorations, well over 200 in total. It also houses a smaller collection of George Crosses (GCs).
Bravery is a wonderful quality, and these medal groups, which I have built up into a collection over the past four decades, represent an individual’s courage and service. Behind every award of the VC and the GC is a wonderful story of personal gallantry.
The “Extraordinary Heroes” exhibition at the gallery seeks to intrigue, inspire and amaze by re-telling forgotten stories of great bravery from the Crimean War to the present day.
My medal collection, estimated by experts to be worth £70 million, has been on public display at the IWM since 2010, when I donated £5 million for the gallery’s construction.
The VC, created in 1856 by Queen Victoria, is Britain and the Commonwealth’s most prestigious decoration for gallantry in the presence of the enemy.
The GC, created by George VI in 1940, is Britain and the Commonwealth’s most prestigious decoration for gallantry not in the presence of the enemy – for example, by bomb disposal experts.
The collection included one of only three VC and Bars in the world – that’s the equivalent of two VCs awarded to a single individual.
The medal group on display is the one awarded to Captain Noel Chavasse, VC & Bar, MC, a medical officer who displayed incredible valour during the First World War. Captain Chavasse was killed in the second of his VC actions in August 1917, aged 32.
In the short term, it seems likely that after September, my medal collection will gather dust in a vault because there has been insufficient time to find a new “home” for it. I am grateful to those who have helped with the task of finding a new location where the public can continue to enjoy the collection. I and others continue to work on finding a solution to this problem.
I am also grateful for the support of all those, including living VC and GC recipients, who have publicly opposed the decision by the IWM to close the gallery on the grounds that it wants to create space for other exhibitions.
My greatest wish now is for a record number of people to visit the Lord Ashcroft Gallery – as always, free of charge – in the final weeks of its existence.
In doing so they will honour some of the bravest men and women the world has ever seen, individuals who have shown a commitment to the qualities that we most treasure: loyalty, duty and sacrifice.
Read this article on Express.co.uk
Read related article by Giles Sheldrick
DOWNLOAD PDF
