Abstract
The last pre-First World War Victoria Cross was granted in 1904. Thus it is a convenient point, 50 years after the first decoration was won, to examine the statistical trends that evolved in that half-century. Since its creation 521 Crosses had been confirmed by the Crown, enough for a viable statistical universe. For our purposes what is critical are the trends in the types of acts that were winning the VC, the ‘cost of courage’ in terms of casualties amongst those identified as heroes, and the pattern of distribution of the award throughout the ranks of the military.
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Notes
Andrew Lambert, ‘The Shield of Empire,’ in J. R. Hill and Bryan Ranft, The Oxford Illustrated History of the Royal Navy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995), 184, pointed out that between 1856 and 1914 the British battle fleet saw action only once, at Alexandria in 1882.
William Forbes-Mitchell, Reminiscences of the Great Mutiny (n.p., 1893), 42–3; Farwell, Queen Victoria’s Little Wars, 126.
W. J. Reader, At Duty’s Call: A Study in Obsolete Patriotism (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1988), 10.
H. D. Hutchinson, The Campaign in Tirah, 1897–1898 (London: Macmillan, 1898), 242–5.
General Sir Ian Hamilton, Listening for the Drums (London: Faber & Faber, 1944), 91–2.
Ian B. M. Hamilton, The Happy Warrior: A Life of General Sir Ian Hamilton, GCB, GCMG, DSO (London: Cassell, 1966), 41–6, 134–5, 145. (The author is the nephew of Sir Ian.)
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© 2008 Melvin Charles Smith
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Smith, M.C. (2008). Fifty Years On: A Half-Century of Heroism. In: Awarded for Valour. Studies in Military and Strategic History. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230583351_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230583351_6
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-36136-6
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