The Elizabeth Cross will be awarded to the next of kin of about 8,000 servicemen and women who have died since the Second World War.

The Chief of the Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, said the cross would be worn with "immense pride".

Today families of South Tyneside soldiers killed in battle welcomed the move.

Pat Long, 57, from Hebburn, whose son Cpl Paul Long was among six Redcaps murdered by a mob in June 2003, said: "It's fantastic news and it's good that they're still being remembered and getting recognition for what they did.

"I just hope I will be able to get a copy of the medal too, since I'm not next of kin."

The mother of Staff Sergeant Sharron Elliott, of the Army's Intelligence Corps, killed in Basra in 2006, thought the cross – the first award a reigning monarch has given their name to since King George VI instituted the George Cross in 1940 – would be a nice keepsake.

Elsie Manning, of Horsley Hill, South Shields, said: "I have mixed feelings at the moment, but overall I do think it's a good idea.

"It's about time the Government showed they were doing something."

The families of South Shields-born Cpl Simon Miller, killed alongside Cpl Long in the Redcap massacre, and Private Damien Jackson, of the 3rd Battalion of the Parachute Regiment, will also receive the accolade.

The 19-year-old was shot dead during a firefight with the Taliban in Afghanistan in July 2006.

The cross will be made of hallmarked silver and will carry the rose of England, the Scottish thistle, the Irish shamrock, and the Welsh daffodil.

The centre will bear the crowned cypher of the Queen. A miniature version will also be granted.

It will be accompanied by a memorial scroll on parchment paper headed with the Royal Coat of Arms with the Queen's signature in the top left-hand corner.

While one cross only will be awarded to the next of kin, additional scrolls will be available to parents, spouses, or partners who are not the designated next of kin.

Announcing the creation of the award in a Commons written statement, Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth said it was intended to recognise the "huge debt" the country owed to the families of the dead.

It comes five years after the Gazette launched its Debt of Honour campaign.

More than 5,500 readers signed our petition to see soldiers who gave their lives for their country awarded a military honour.

Mrs Long, handed the petition over to then Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon on the steps of the MoD's headquarters, in Whitehall, followed by a meeting specially arranged by the Gazette.