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.
And while the heroic exploits of recipients of the Victoria Cross have been the subject of repeated accounts, holders of the DCM have rarely been given the recognition they deserve and 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, these extraordinary acts of bravery and self sacrifice are the central focus of this 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 PoW 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 his DCM for an SAS mission in the Gulf.

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.