1914: THE LAST STAND OF THE THIN RED LINE 125
advance of the Allied armies, commencing on eight August was almost
unsurpassed in its brilliancy.^64
It was not until the final days of the war that a Cross went to a purely
reconnaissance mission:
On 10 August 1918 northeast of Roye, France, Captain [Ferdinand
Maurice Felix] West, who had spent the two previous days on recon-
naissance patrols and attacking the enemy from tree level, found a huge
concentration of troops and transport. He had noted the strength of
the enemy formation when he was attacked by several German scouts,
receiving five bullets in his left leg which was partially severed. In a
rapidly weakening state and in great pain he managed to bring his aircraft
back to safety, and on landing, despite waves of unconsciousness, insisted
on giving his report before being taken to hospital.^65
While the air provided an environment for the Victorian ideal to continue
past its demise on the ground, only 16 of the 633 Crosses won during the
Great War went to aviators. They represent only 2.5 percent of the total,
and far too few to preserve the nineteenth-century ideal intact. At any rate,
as may be seen from the later citations, the RAF was on its way toward
developing a more utilitarian, modern conception of heroism as the war
drew to a close.
The Royal Navy, likewise, garnered few VCs during the war. Only 51 of
the 633 First World War Crosses went to the Navy, 8 percent of the total.
Unlike the nineteenth century, almost half went to actions at sea, with 25
given for maritime combat. Amphibious operations accounted for another
14, and only seven went for combat purely ashore in the tradition of the
Naval detachments of the Crimea and the Mutiny. Two naval aviators won
Crosses and three more came from river operations in Mesopotamia. In the
main the Royal Navy rewarded tenacity and audacity:
On 31 May 1916, at the Battle of Jutland, Commander [The Honourable
Edward Barry Stewart] Bingham of HMSNestor, led his division in their
attack, first on enemy destroyers and then on their battle cruisers. He
finally sighted the enemy battle group and followed by the remaining
destroyer of his division (HMSNicator), he closed to within 3,000 yards of
the enemy, in order to attain a favourable position for firing his torpedoes.
While making his attackNestorandNicatorwere under the concentrated fire
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