Princess Anne will tomorrow the launch of the The Lord Ashcroft Gallery at Imperial War Museum where she’ll be re-introduced to Jim Beaton, the Royal Protection Officer who received the George Cross after being shot three times while protecting her during a failed kidnap attempt in 1974.
The Princess Royal will also meet other Victoria Cross and George Cross recipients whose stories are featured in the Extraordinary Heroes exhibition which explores the stories of bravery behind over 240 Victoria Crosses and George Crosses held in the Lord Ashcroft and Imperial War Museum collection.
Other recipients to be introduced to The Princess Royal include Johnson Beharry VC, who was awarded the Victoria Cross for actions in Iraq in 2004; Tony Gledhill GC, a Metropolitan Police Constable awarded the George Cross in 1966 when he chased an armed gang across south London in an unarmed police car and Matt Croucher GC, a Royal Marines Reserve who in Afghanistan in 2008 threw himself onto a booby trapped explosive device to save the lives of his crew.
The Lord Ashcroft Gallery, which opens to the public on November 12th, is the museum’s first major permanent gallery for ten years and was paid for by a £5m donation from Lord Ashcroft.
