HEROISM EMERGES FROM THE GREAT WAR 163
Table 8.4 The cost of courage, 1918: casualties per quarter
Quarter Jan.–Mar. April–June July–Sept. Oct.–Dec. 1918 Total
27 37 86 44 203

Awarded Raw % Raw % Raw % Raw % Raw %

No Wound 11 41 23 62 49 57 41 75 118 58
WIA 5 19 8 22 15 17 5 9 35 17
DOW 1 4 2 5 5 6 3 5 11 5
KIA 10 37 4 11 17 20 6 11 39 19
Total Casualties 20 74 14 38 38 44 14 25 85 42
Total Lethal 11 41 6 16 22 26 9 16 50 25
Once they got to the Front they were not as likely to stand in a desperation
defense as the VC statistics indicate:
When the Jerries came towards our line in large numbers, they were
firing from the hip and I thought, Tosh. Do what some of the others are
doing. Hop it back. So I did. I was not alone, I can assure you, otherwise
I don’t think I should be able to write this.^41
During the last 42 days of the war the total casualty figure dropped markedly
and perfectly understandably; why get killed being a hero just as the Big
Show was winding down?
The trend of 1916 in terms of men earning the Cross while holding a
temporary or acting rank continued in 1917 and 1918. Fully 20.6 percent
of the winners in 1917 and 23.6 percent of the winners in 1918 did so, but
with a broader distribution across the rank spectrum than in 1917. In 1917
the greatest concentration of awards went to acting captains, with 13 Crosses,
followed by acting lieutenant colonels at six Crosses. Every commissioned
and non-commissioned officer rank except colonel was represented, from
brigadier to lance corporal. The same held true for 1918, but the greatest
concentration of awards went to acting lieutenant colonels with 15 Crosses.
The Great War forever changed the nature of warfare among industrialized
nations. With it changed the nature of heroism. War on an industrial scale
demanded heroes that were as implacable as the machines they used to
fight. True, the Poor Bloody Infantry still looked roughly the same as their
ancestors at Mons, but they had become the cutting edge of a vast system for
the production, supply, and distribution of wholesale slaughter. A machine
pays little attention to hot or cold, dry or wet, unless those conditions impede