New home for "Extraordinary heroes" medal collection

The Grand Admiral has let it be known that he was most disappointed to learn that the Imperial War Museum (IWM) had decided to permanently close the "Extraordinary Heroes" gallery housing Lord Ashcroft's collection of gallantry medals, and others. 


When it was opened in November 2010, The Lord Ashcroft Gallery was the Imperial War Museum's first major permanent gallery for ten years, It was paid for by a £5million donation from Lord Ashcroft, and housed the Extraordinary Heroes exhibition containing the world’s largest collection of Victoria Crosses (VCs). The 164 awards from his collection, which range from the Crimean to the Falklands wars, went on public display for the first time alongside 48 VCs and 31 George Crosses (GCs) already held by IWM. The VC is of course Britain and the Commonwealth’s premier award for extreme gallantry in the face of the enemy, while the GC is Britain’s most prestigious civil decoration. 


But in February 2025 IWM announced it was "permanently closing" the gallery to make space for new post-WWII galleries - which does not make a lot of sense since the extraordinary heroes gallery did contain a significant number of post-WWII medals.

Lord Ashcroft's collection had been on a 15-year loan to IWM: he told told the Telegraph when the announcement was made that he had been intending to renew the loan with a view to bequeathing the collection to IWM after his death. The newspaper reported that this was now unlikely to happen.


But we are very pleased that the National Army Museum has agreed to provide a new home for the medal collection. This is how the Daily Express put it:





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