It is Britain's most famous medal and its recipients join the most exclusive of military clubs. Now the stories of all 1,354 men to have been awarded the Victoria Cross are brought together for the first time. Nick Morrison reports.

PRIVATE Wakenshaw was a member of an anti-tank gun crew on a forward slope protecting the infantry position at Mersa Mutrah in the Western Desert, where the British had withdrawn in the face of Rommel's advance.

Shortly after dawn, the Germans attacked and an enemy vehicle towing a light gun came within range of Pte Wakenshaw's crew, who opened fire, immobilising the vehicle. But another enemy gun then opened fire on the anti-tank crew, killing or seriously wounding them all. The enemy then started to move forward to bring the light gun into action against the British infantry.

Realising the danger to his comrades, and under intense mortar and artillery fire, Pte Wakenshaw crawled towards his gun. His left arm had been blown off above the elbow, but still he managed to load the anti-tank gun with one hand and fire off five rounds, succeeding in further damaging the enemy vehicle and gun.

An enemy shell landed near the anti-tank gun. The gun aimer was killed and Pte Wakenshaw was blown away and wounded still further. Undeterred, he once more dragged himself towards the gun and placed a round in the breach. He was preparing to fire when a direct hit on the ammunition from the enemy killed him and destroyed the gun. His action provided cover to allow the remainder of the company to withdraw in safety.

For his act of bravery, on June 27, 1942, Pte Adam Herbert Wakenshaw, of the 8th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry, was awarded the Victoria Cross.

Since Charles Lucas, a mate in the Royal Navy, was nominated for the VC for his actions on June 21, 1854 - for picking up an enemy shell which had landed on the deck of HMS Hecla and throwing it overboard - Britain's highest honour for bravery has been awarded a further 1,353 times.

Inscribed simply "For Valour", the Victoria Cross is awarded "for most conspicuous bravery, or some daring or pre-eminent act of valour or self-sacrifice or extreme devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy", according to the Royal Warrant which brought it into being in 1856, and which also made it retrospective to cover the recent war with Russia.

Its inspiration came directly from Queen Victoria herself. Concerned that the bravery shown by her soldiers and sailors in the Crimean War had gone unrewarded, she wanted a new medal struck for all ranks, not just the officers.

It measures 1.375 inches across and weighs around 0.87 ounces and is a dull gunmetal, originally from the cascabels - the knob at the end used to attach a rope for towing - of two canons captured from the Russians at Sebastopol in the Crimea.

It was not until 1920, in response to the loss of life in the First World War, that the warrant was changed to allow the VC to be awarded posthumously, although 13 such awards had already been made. To date, 298 VCs have been awarded posthumously. It was also 1920 when a clause allowing the VC to be revoked for discreditable acts was repealed, after eight recipients had been stripped of the honour.

The original recommendation for the award had to be made by a superior officer, but now it requires sworn statements from three witnesses to an act of bravery. The last awarded were 22 years ago in the Falklands War, to Colonel Herbert "H" Jones and Sergeant Ian McKay.

It is partly this rarity that has given the VC its mystique and status as the most famous British medal, according to military historian Max Arthur, whose new book, Symbol of Courage, is the first time the stories of all the men who have received the VC - and it has only been men - have been brought together.

"There is something a bit golden about the Victoria Cross - they don't come easy," he says. "If you walk into a room and you see someone with a Victoria Cross, it eclipses all other awards."

Mr Arthur, whose previous books include first hand accounts of both the Falklands War and the First World War, spent two-and-a-half years researching the stories behind the awards, stories which include Stanley Hollis, of Middlesbrough, recipient of the only VC to be awarded for action on D-Day; Roland and George Bradford, of Witton Park, County Durham, one of only four pairs of brothers to be awarded the VC, and George Chicken, of Bishopswearmouth, one of only five civilians to receive the honour.

"You read about these examples of sheer courage and it just brings tears to your eyes. Their stories are inspirational and it is the quality of courage they display.

"There are two definitions of courage I give in the book: one is the ordinary soldier who sees his task and gets on with it; the other sees the opportunity and suddenly acts," he says.

Into the first category is John Cornwell, mortally wounded in the first few minutes of the Battle of Jutland in 1915, he remained standing alone by his gun on HMS Chester, in an exposed position, waiting for orders. He was 16.

In the second category, he puts William Speakman, one of only four men to be awarded the VC during the Korean War. In fierce fighting with the Chinese, when he ran out of ammunition he threw rocks, stones and bottles at the enemy, earning himself the nickname "the beer-bottle VC".

Curiously, about three quarters of all VC recipients grew up either as the responsible child of an early-widowed mother, or as the eldest of a large family. Perhaps the need to look after others from a young age carries through into later life.

"If they are responsible for shepherding eight or nine children in the family, they may carry that responsibility through.

"You don't suddenly become a hero overnight. If you are a selfish bastard you will remain a selfish bastard on the battlefield, but if you have got that compassion for your fellow men that carries through to the battlefield," he says.

Smaller families and a more insular world may also help explain why so few VCs are awarded now. As community ties have weakened, perhaps the willingness to put your own life in danger for your fellow man has also diminished, and the fading of religious belief may also play a part.

"Belief in God was a very strong component of courage, that comes through many times," Mr Arthur says.

A VC may be its own reward, but some recipients have been unable to cope with being singled out above their peers. One such was James Shaw, awarded a VC after action at Lucknow during the Indian Mutiny, he could not endure the constant jibes of comrades and committed suicide by jumping overboard on the ship home.

"Those stories come through time and time again. The consequences of being a VC winner were not always easy. There is a lot of pressure on the ordinary solider or seaman getting an award, you are elevated and removed from your chums and a lot of them turned to drink," Mr Arthur says.

While the individual displays of courage are an inspiration, rarely does one man turn the course of a battle, but this does not detract from the heroism. Nor should those whose heroism has gone unrewarded be neglected.

A total of 11 VCs were awarded for the defence of Rorke's Drift from Zulu attack in 1879, the largest for a single action and including one for William Wilson from Northumberland, but a few hours earlier the British forces had been massacred at Isandlwana.

"How many great actions were there in that battle?," says Mr Arthur. "How many Victoria Crosses went to their grave without a Victoria Cross? Many, I would suggest. Where whole units were wiped out there was no-one to take back the message.

"But what is it that makes a man go forward when another stays back? What is it that draws them forward? They may have had limbs blown off but they are still going forward. They are another breed."

* Symbol of Courage: A History of the Victoria Cross (Sidgwick&Jackson, £25).