156 AWARDED FOR VALOUR
Note the common factors in these two citations. The hero killed the enemy.
The hero contributed to the success of the offensive. The hero faced the new
queen of the battlefield, the machine gun, and with raw courage overcame
it. The hero was not necessarily expected to survive the act.
The nature of heroism was in transition in 1916 as Haig solidified his
control over military affairs and created a GHQ in his own image. The polit-
ical and diplomatic events of 1917 increased his control of British military
affairs and in turn that increased his influence on the ideal of heroism.
The trends of 1916 became the reality of heroism in 1917. Aggressiveness
became the key factor in determining valour in the third year of the war.
On 4 May 1917 a meeting of the Allied commands came to the determ-
ination that, given the relative strengths of the opposing sides, a full-scale
breakout was unlikely in the near future. The British and French commands
agreed that the best course was to pursue a war of attrition, to wear down
the enemy to the point that an effective breakout was possible. General Sir
William Robertson summarized the sense of the meeting: ‘In order to wear
him down we are agreed that it is absolutely necessary to fight with all our
available forces with the object of destroying the enemy’s divisionsby
relentlessly attacking with limited objectives while making the fullest use of
our artillery.’^24 This meant that the primary virtue of the British soldier was
now killing Germans.
This factor is instantly evident in the statistical breakdown of Victoria
Cross winners for 1917. War-winning acts resulting in enemy casualties
garnered an unprecedented share of the Crosses awarded. Beginning with
the active phase of operations in the April 1917 offensive, enemy-killing acts
outstripped all other categories combined. Unlike 1915, when offensive acts
declined with the continuation of operations and mounting casualty figures,
1917 generated a steady level of aggressive actions. Unlike 1916 when the
number of awards steadily declined from the outset of active operations, in
1917 they steadily increased. Both trends are indications that commanders
were driving their troops harder and rewarding aggressive actions more
frequently.
Not only were more offensive acts getting awarded, these acts were
increasing in ruthlessness toward the enemy – and the troops under British
command:
On 20 August 1917 near Tower Hamlets, east of Ypres, Belgium, Second
Lieutenant [Montague Shadworth Seymour] Moore volunteered to make
a fresh attack on a final objective and went forward with some 70 men,
but they met with such heavy opposition that when he arrived at his
lily
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