130 AWARDED FOR VALOUR
On 21 April 1917, Private [Charles] Melvin’s company were waiting for
reinforcements before attacking the front line trench, but he rushed on
by himself over ground swept by rifle and machine-gun fire. On reaching
the trench and having killed one or two of the enemy, he jumped in
and attacked the rest with his bayonet. Most of the enemy then fled
but not before Private Melvin had killed two more and disarmed eight
unwounded and one wounded. He bound up the wounded man and took
him and his other prisoners back to an officer before reporting back to
his platoon sergeant.^84
The defensive Crosses won in this phase of the campaign also represented
a new standard of aggressive leadership.
On 22 April 1917, Lieutenant [John Reginald Noble] Graham was in
command of a machine-gun section which came under very heavy fire.
When his men became casualties he insisted on carrying the ammunition
and although twice wounded, he continued in control and with one gun
opened accurate fire on the enemy. This gun was put out of action and he
was again wounded and forced to retire, but before doing so he disabled
his gun and then brought a Lewis gun into action with excellent effect
until all the ammunition was expended. He was wounded yet again and
was forced again to retire.^85
Maude clearly wanted soldiers who would take the war to the enemy, and
was willing to reward those who did so. That having been said, it must also
be noted that fully 30 percent of the Crosses won in Mesopotamia in 1917
went for life saving, far above the 13 percent for 1917 overall. The traditions
of earlier eras died more slowly in the fringe campaigns of the war.
Even in 1918 the Crosses won on the periphery, while reflecting the
newer attitude of aggressive heroism, often still had a whiff of the nineteenth
century about them:
On 23 September 1918 on the West Bank of the River Jordan, Palestine,
when his squadron was charging a strong enemy position, Ressaidar Badlu
Singh realized that heavy casualties were being inflicted from a small hill
occupied by machine-guns and 200 infantry. Without any hesitation he
collected six other ranks and with entire disregard of danger he charged
and captured the position. He was mortally wounded on the very top of
the hill while capturing one of the machine-guns single-handed, but all
the guns and infantry had surrendered to him before he died.^86
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