Oldest recipient of the Victoria Cross

The oldest recipient of the Victoria Cross is Captain William Raynor (UK, b. July 1795), who was awarded the medal when he was 61 years 10 months for the part he played in blowing up an arms store in Delhi besieged by insurgents on 11 May 1857, the second day of the Indian Mutiny.

The Victoria Cross is the British and Commonwealth's highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy. Captain Raynor's citation reads: "On the 11th May 1857 at Delhi, India, Lieutenant Raynor and nine other soldiers defended the Magazine [arms store] of the fort for more than five hours against a large vastly superior number of rebels and mutineers. When the enemy had finally scaled the wall and with no relief in sight, Lieutenant Raynor ordered the contents of the Magazine to be detonated. Only Lieutenant Raynor and two other soldiers survived, but many of the enemy were killed. At the age of 61 Lieutenant William Raynor is the oldest person to receive the Victoria Cross."

Pictured is Michael John Raynor Long with his great-great-grandfather's Victoria Cross at the Royal Logistic Corps Museum in Winchester, UK, where the medal is stored.