FIFTY YEARS ON: A HALF-CENTURY OF HEROISM 103
Grapeshot and musket balls tended to produce devastating wounds, whereas
an assegai rarely shattered an arm or leg. Thus, when facing the Russians
or well-equipped Mutineers, more of the wounded sustained lethal injuries.
When facing more primitively armed enemies, the wounded stood a better
chance of recovery. Both the Afghans and the Boers had more rifles per
capita than the Zulu or Maori, and caused more lethal wounds.^20 The ‘Killed
in Action’ (KIA) and ‘Died of Wounds’ (DOW) figures represent the men
brought in by the revision of the warrant interpretation under Lord Roberts.
The drop in the number of unwounded VC winners in the 1890s was due
largely to an increase in the quality of medical care in the field and provision
of hospital facilities in the rear areas. During the Crimean War amputation
was the standard treatment for shattered limbs, and God help the man
with an abdominal wound. By the late 1890s antiseptic surgery and x-ray
machines accompanied the troops into the field.^21 More heroes survived
their acts of valour to claim their reward; commanders could recommend
severely wounded soldiers with greater confidence.
Table 5.3 The cost of courage: casualties among nineteenth-century VC winners
per decade
Quarter 1850s 1860s 1870s 1880s 1890–1904
296 39 48 21 117

Awarded Raw % Raw % Raw % Raw % Raw %

No Wound 226 76 26 67 33 69 16 76 73 62
WIA 67 23 13 33 13 27 5 247 35 30
DOW 2 0 7 0 00 00 0 4 3
KIA 1 0 3 0 02 40 0 5 4
Total Casualties 70 24 13 33 15 31 5 24 44 38
Total Lethal 3 1 0 0 2 4 0 0 9 8
Distribution of the Victoria Cross was heavily biased toward the officer
corps in general and the rank equivalent to that of the Army lieutenant in
particular. Overall the award was divided almost equally percentage-wise
between officers and the other ranks, but once again it must be remembered
that officers, including staff, could not have comprised more than 10–12
percent of the military establishment. Thus, just over 46 percent of the
nineteenth-century VCs going to officers represented a tremendous bias
toward the military elite.
Of the officers the rank of lieutenant and its Navy equivalent took the
majority of the awards. Just under 50 percent of all officer VCs went to