HEROISM EMERGES FROM THE GREAT WAR 159
I am in agreement that the Victoria Cross should not be awarded for
the rescue of wounded in the case of officers unless under very exceptional
circumstances.
As regards men, I think it should be awarded, but in making the
recommendations I have been guided by the facts of the case. For instance,
the rescue of a wounded man lying exposed to fire between two trenches,
or in a retreat, where a rescue has been made on the sole initiative of the
non-commissioned officer or private, are cases in which recommendations
would be given.
I am, however, quite willing to be guided by any ruling which may
be given, as no doubt the present system tends to lack uniformity.^30
Dobson got the VC, Davidson did not, and the precedent was set that for
an enlisted man, rescuing the wounded still merited a Victoria Cross in the
right circumstances.
The setting of precedent did not alter Haig’s ideas concerning the VC. On
3 December 1914 he lectured George V:
He expressed the opinion that the grant of the Victoria Cross for carrying
a wounded man out of action was justified and was beneficial. I replied
that each case must be judged on its merits but, as a rule, any careless
movement did a wounded man much more harm and also tended to
increase loss of valuable lives. On the other hand, in the case of a building
containing wounded catching fire and troops going forward under fire
to remove the wounded from it, they would certainly merit the V.C. As
a matter of fact we have to take special precautions during a battle to
post police, to prevent more unwounded men than are necessary from
accompanying a wounded man back from the firing line!^31
Here he reveals another part of his reasoning: combat on the Western Front
was a question of firepower, and he could not afford to lose men from the
firing line to rescue or tend the wounded.
While French remained in command the VC retained a place for human-
itarian heroism on the part of the combat soldier. Even after Haig replaced
French on the eve of 1916 soldiers continued to win VCs for rescuing the
wounded, although the numbers began to shift in favor of war-winning
Crosses. The statistics indicate that this may be due partially to an unwill-
ingness on Kitchener’s part to reverse the precedent set in the opening
months of the war. The major shift toward a more aggressive VC paradigm
coincides both with the death of Lord Kitchener and the opening of the
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