144 AWARDED FOR VALOUR
Table 7.3 Acts winning the Victoria Cross, 1916: Winners by quarter
Quarter Jan.–March April–June July–Sept. Oct.–Dec. Total 1916
725411083

Awarded Raw % Raw % Raw % Raw % Raw %

War-Winning 3 43 14 56 28 68 8 80 53 64

• Offensive 0 0 4 16 15 37 5 50 25 30


• Defensive 2 29 4 16 7 17 1 10 14 17


• Symbolic 1 14 3 12 4 10 2 20 10 12


• Secondary 0 0 3 12 2 5 0 0 5 6
  Humanitarian 4 57 2 8 10 24 2 20 16 19


• Enlisted 2 29 1 4 5 12 2 20 8 10


• Officer 2 29 1 4 5 12 0 0 ∗ 810
  Symbolic 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
  Special 0 0 0 0 3 7 0 0 3 4
  ∗Once again, while it is probably a statistical fluke, it is interesting to note that the number
  of VCs given for rescuing officers in 1916 dropped the longer operations continued, just as
  they had done in 1915.
  public? Were these newly trained civilians somehow more adaptable to the
  rigors of war than their professional predecessors?
  At first blush the numbers suggest just that; somehow, the New Armies
  had a greater dedication to taking the war to the enemy and as they
  gained experience during the course of the battle they became increasingly
  aggressive. If this thenisthe case, why are the total number of VCs confirmed
  for 1916 so much lower than the total for 1915?
  The Battle of the Somme represented the greatest concentration of British
  troops thus far in the war. If the ‘Kitchener Mob’ was indeed more
  aggressive, it stands to reason that more men would generate more VCs. In
  fact, the quarterly distribution follows the same trend for both years. The
  commencement of active operations – second quarter for 1915, third for
  1916 – saw the greatest concentration of awards, and in both cases as oper-
  ations continued and casualties mounted the number of awards dropped
  markedly (Table 7.4).
  The New Army of 1916 thus exhibited the same reaction to the futility of
  prolonged, fruitless frontal attacks on prepared positions as had the regulars
  and Territorials in 1915. The lower total number of Crosses awarded when
  in fact greater numbers of men were engaged in active operations argues