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The Victoria Cross has been forfeited eight times, under Clause 15 of the 1856 Warrant. *Crook discusses the cases and lists the 'crimes' without naming the men involved. *The Imperial War Museums' Handbook of the VC & the GC lists names as well. *In any event, virtually every list of Victoria Cross recipients includes the names of all eight, sometimes noting the subsequent forfeiture, sometimes not. The total of 1354 VCs awarded includes these eight.
The first forfeiture was in 1861, the most recent in 1908.
The 'crimes' were:
1 Desertion to evade investigation of a disgraceful offence (this may or may not have involved homosexual activity, my source for this suggestion is not authoratative-an undocumented newspaper article.)
2 Theft of a cow
3 Theft of a comrade's medals
4 Theft of ten bushels of oats
5 Desertion on active service, theft of a horse and accoutrements
6 Theft and embezzlement from an officer
7 Bigamy
8 Theft of iron
In every case the cross itself remained the recipient's property, and as mentioned the names still appear on virtually all the lists.
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