Chards Campaign and V.C

Doe’s anyone know what happen to John Chard’s Zulu War Campaign medals, and his Victoria Cross. I read somewhere that it was stolen. Then I read Stanley Baxter brought it. Or are they still missing.

hi oh2.
i think baker purchased chard"s v.c, believing it to be the real one, but it wasnt !. Then after further research it was deemed to be the REAL one !!. To late for stanley baker as he had passed away, not knowing his was the real deal !!.
i may stand corrected but that is the story as i know it.

cheers 90th

I thought it was stolen. And he was given a replacement.

The actor Stanley Baker, who played Chard in the film, successfully bid for the medal at £2700 with John Hayward as underbidder. At the time John thought this was a hell of a price to pay for a Zulu War medal, even to Chard. On Baker's death a few years afterwards, his widow sold the pair, after which it changed hands several times before being lodged at Spink for safe-keeping. Here it was decided to get the metal tested scientifically to remove any element of human error. The Cross was sent to the Royal Armouries where it was subjected to spectroscopic analysis to determine its metallic characteristics, thus establishing a sort of metallurgical DNA. The tests revealed that this so-called 'cast copy' had a similar metal content to other authentic Victoria Crosses of that particular period. Despite this confirmation of it being genuine, Chard's VC would inevitably attract careful scrutiny if it were ever to be offered for sale due to its fascinating history. However, it would perhaps not be going too far to say that arguably this most famous VC is now priceless. John confided that he believes he can tell a 'genuine' VC by its appearance and feel. He commented that during the casting of a Cross, the medal might emerge from the die in a condition which only required a little extra work. Others might not be so crisp and needed much cleaning and chasing to bring them to the required standard. John said that he had seen three Afghan War 1878-80 VCs which would have benefited from being finished in a more diligent fashion. Interestingly these were cast about the same time as Chard's VC.

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