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The Victoria Cross and Zulu War Medal awarded to Lieutenant J. Chard for Rorke’s Drift, which will go on display as part of the Ashcroft collection at Spink in April.

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The Ashcroft VC Trust, which holds the collection of 50 of the awards, will co-host the public display from April 16-25.

The VCs on show cover 15 different armed conflicts, from the Crimean War to the Second World War, and the exhibition will feature details of how they were won.

At the centre of the display will be VCs awarded to Lieutenant John Rouse Merriott Chard, R.E., immortalised for his gallantry and leadership while commanding the Mission Station at Rorke's Drift against 4500 Zulus, in 1879; and Lieutenant William Leefe Robinson, RFC, the first pilot to shoot down a German Zeppelin over mainland Britain in the Great War.

Other highlights include awards for: The Defence of Mafeking, 1899, South Africa; The Boxer Rebellion, 1900, China; The Lancashire Landings, Gallipoli, 1915; A Posthumous Cross for the Commando Raid on Rommel's Headquarters, Western Desert, 1941, and the incredible Cross to Sergeant Norman Cyril Jackson, R.A.F., who diced with death at 22,000 feet above Germany attempting to extinguish a fire on the wing of a Lancaster Bomber.

The exhibition will take place at Spink's premises in Southampton Row, London.