170 AWARDED FOR VALOUR
not have been awarded a V.C., but if the hysterical female world is to
be allowed in, God help the poor devils who have to make the decisions.
Until the time comes when man and women are treated alike, when
chivalry is dead and buried, when the natures of man and women are
identical (which, thank God, is a natural impossibility) then, and not until
then, will it be wise to artificially place women on the same rude footing
as men.
Them’s my sentiments, but what you want is the opinion of the official
Admiralty. That I will obtain as soon as possible and let you know.^15
Everett then proceeded to write the official Navy position, which was almost
identical to his initial tirade.^16 A few days later he wrote a much more sedate
official reply to the original request, noting that the Admiralty formally
opposed the notion (for reasons outlined in his earlier private letter) and that
he wanted to address the Navy’s concerns over the status of the Merchant
Marine in the warrant and a desire to eliminate the provisional bestowal of
the award. He closed by reporting that he was writing Ponsonby to outline
the Navy’s position.^17
The Davies circular was designed as both a sounding board for a couple of
controversial proposals and a suggestion that an interservice panel convene
to hammer out a blanket resolution.^18 That proposed committee’s role was
expanded during the second week of August, with King George V’s approval,
to examine the entire concept of the Cross with the aim of writing a new
warrant incorporating the new realities of warfare and discarding Victorian
holdovers that no longer applied. The concerned offices were notified on 26
August that the committee would meet at 2:45 p.m. on Friday 30 August
in Room 152 at the War Office.^19
A number of loose ends needed tying up. Some were mere housekeeping
formalities: the inclusion of the Royal Air Force by statute as opposed to
practice, the standardization of the ribbon color for all service branches,
and official recognition of posthumous awards in the warrant, formalizing a
practice that during the Great War had become standard. Others were fairly
straightforward: updating Clause VII (provisional bestowal in the field),
Clause VIII (mechanism of recommendation), and Clause XII (delayed action
recommendations) to reflect modern battle conditions and communications.
Also due for discussion was Clause XIII, concerning the elective principle,
as well as a precise definition of the eligibility of Indian Imperial Service
formations. The final provision of the commission was to address ‘any
further question which may be laid before the Committee.’^20 It was from
these ‘further questions’ that the controversy would arise.
lily
(lily)
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