Battle of Rorke's Drift day after the battle an improvised gallows was used "for hanging Zulus who were supposed to have behaved treacherously". Eleven Victoria Crosses were awarded to the defenders of Rorke's Drift, seven of them to soldiers of the 2nd/24th Foot – the most ever received for a single action by one regiment (although not, as commonly thought, the most awarded in a single action or the most in a day: sixteen were awarded for actions at the Battle of Inkerman, on 5 November 1854; twenty-eight were awarded as a result of the Second Relief of Lucknow, 14–22 November 1857). Four Distinguished
Victoria Cross for New Zealand 1999 when New Zealand created a new award system that replaced several Commonwealth honours with New Zealand awards. It has been awarded once, on 2 July 2007 to Corporal Willie Apiata for actions in 2004. The original British Victoria Cross was introduced in 1856 by Queen Victoria to reward acts of valour during the Crimean War. That medal had been awarded 25 times to 24 individual military personnel from New Zealand; Captain Charles Upham receiving a bar. Only 14 medals have been awarded since the end of the Second World War. The medal is made from the gunmetal of a