the gallant Mr Croft was awarded a Medal and then a Cross - would that be a reflection of higher status of RSM over SSM?
HTB - I'm steering clear of the whole Scotland - England argument but I'm happy to clear up the medal - cross thing for you.
In the time when the services had medals for the ORs and crosses for officers (pre 1993), the cut off came at Warrant Officer rank, or in the case of the army, Warrant Officer class 1. An RSM (or equivalent depending of the arm of service) was a WO1 and would be awarded the Military Cross, a Squadron Sergeant Major was a WO2 rank, and as such would qualify for the award of the Distinguished Conduct Medal or Military Medal. Same rules applied to the RAF, with a lot of WW2 aircrew winning the DFM as sergeants or flight sergeants and the the DFC as Warrant Officers.
The oddest example of this I came across was when I met Warrant Officer John Phillips, Royal Engineers, who had been awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, normally a naval officer's award, for bomb disposal on HMS Argonaut during the Falklands War.