World's largest collection of Victoria Crosses pulled from display at Imperial War Museum
The public will no longer be able to view the world's largest collection of Victoria Crosses after the Imperial War Museum (IWM) in London announced plans to close the display.
The Lord Ashcroft Gallery was opened in 2010 following a £5 million donation from the billionaire businessman and a loan of his personal collection of medals. It included around 200 Victoria Crosses (VC) and a smaller number of George Crosses (GC).
However, a spokesman for the museum said on Tuesday that the gallery would permanently shut on June 1 and that Lord Ashcroft's entire collection would be returned to him and 'hidden away in a secure vault'.
The decision has upset veterans, who said the sacrifices of some of Britain's bravest soldiers would be at risk of being forgotten.
The Telegraph understands that the museum took the decision in July last year but only informed Lord Ashcroft on Tuesday – seven months later.
The 78-year-old told the Telegraph: 'Each year, a new generation of young people and their parents has visited the Lord Ashcroft Gallery and marvelled at the exploits of the brave men and women whose courage has protected our freedom.
'It makes me sad indeed to think that this remarkable record will now not be available to the public and will instead be hidden away in a secure vault.'
In a statement, the museum said its own, far smaller, collection of VC and GC medals would be 'displayed across our UK branches [and] integrated within galleries that tell the full story of the conflicts in which of these acts of bravery occurred'.
The display is being closed to make way for new exhibits exploring post-Second World War conflicts, including in the Falklands, Iraq and Afghanistan, which are 'less well represented', it added.
The museum said that the 15-year-long loan of Lord Ashcroft's medals was always intended to expire in 2025 and that it had engaged with his representatives in 2023.
However, sources said any notion that the peer had been informed by the museum before Tuesday that the agreement would not be renewed was 'completely untrue'.
The Telegraph understands that Lord Ashcroft had been contemplating bequeathing his collection of medals to the museum upon his death to create a permanent exhibition, something which is now unlikely to happen.
Christopher Finney, who became the youngest-ever GC recipient after he was injured rescuing several of his comrades from American aircraft 'friendly fire' in Iraq in 2003, described the museum's decision as a 'misstep'.
The former L/Cpl of Horse in the Household Cavalry, and chairman of the VC and GC Association, said: 'I think the general feeling is just one of disappointment, to have that closed down in such an iconic museum.
'I just feel it would be awful if they [the recipients] are forgotten from our collective consciousness.'
The 40-year-old added: 'It is perhaps a bit short-sighted, it just feels it is possibly a misstep.'
The VC is Britain's highest award for gallantry and only 1,358 have been awarded since 1856.
The GC is equally prestigious and is awarded for acts of gallantry not in the presence of an enemy. Since 1940 the medal has been awarded to 401 men, 12 women and three times collectively.
A spokesman for IWM said: 'Like all museums, we regularly update our galleries to ensure we can share as much of the 33 million items in our collection as possible with the public.
'We are very proud to have displayed the Lord Ashcroft Medal Collection at IWM London since 2010, made possible thanks to a generous 15-year loan by Lord Ashcroft.
'IWM London has proudly displayed Victoria Crosses and George Crosses since 1968, and we remain committed to sharing these stories of the greatest acts of bravery and sacrifice in defence of our nation with the public.'
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