Irish in the British Armed Forces British Armed Forces. In fact, from the nations which were part of the British Empire, the only country which has more winners is England with 614. Ireland, with 190 awards (not including Irish diaspora born abroad), outranks Scotland who have 158 and Australia who have 97. When awards per number of people in the total population are taken into account, Ireland's awards would be the equivalent of England gaining 2,850 Victoria Crosses. Charles Davis Lucas of the Royal Navy from County Armagh was the man whose actions were the earliest to be rewarded with a Victoria Cross, due to his
Special Forces of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Special Forces of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Special Forces of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces (), commonly known as the Spetsnaz G.U. or Spetsnaz GRU is the special forces ("spetsnaz") of the G.U., the foreign military intelligence agency of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The Spetsnaz GRU was formed in 1949, the first "spetsnaz" force in the Soviet Union, as the military force of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU), the foreign military intelligence agency of the Soviet Armed Forces. The force was designed