Interesting reference site follows:
<a href="http://www.chapter-one.com/vc/default.asp" target="_blank">http://www.chapter-one.com/vc/default.asp</A>
Worth a look, just to see how incredible some of these actions were. Interesting to note that - three men have been awarded it twice, no women have been awarded, and 16 previous awards were made for actions in Afghanistan.
Where a number were deemed to have carried out an herioc action, and no individual could be singled out, then a ballot would be made to see who should get the VC.
One of the statments from the site:
"It is worth remembering that many servicemen who merited the Victoria Cross never received it because their actions went unnoticed, or the witnesses were killed, or whose self-sacrifice resulted in a lonely death in an unmarked grave. This is true no matter what the nationality of the person and is the reason why the tomb of a nation's unknown warrior usually has the highest gallantry decoration bestowed upon it."