176 AWARDED FOR VALOUR
a zeppelin crossed the coastline. The decision was therefore made to make
‘acting under the authority’ of one of the service branches or specifically
denoted government department (such as an Indian Political Officer) the
basic qualification.^41 As it turns out, the civilian provisions of the new
warrant were never put to the test, in no small part due to the creation
of the George Cross during the Blitz in 1940 to reward civilian bravery.
Everett also pressed Ponsonby for the King’s pleasure regarding the
bestowal of the DSO, DSC, and CB on deserving merchant officers. The
chairman approved the distribution of all three awards and assured Everett
that the King endorsed the existing Navy practice of issuing an antedated
commission for such awards as required the recipient to be a commissioned
military officer.^42
The committee were also of a single mind in the decision to drop the
1858 amendment to the original warrant, extending the Cross to noncombat
situations (theSarah Sands/Walsh case). Even back in the nineteenth century
this had been a controversial provision because it was seemingly so open
to abuse. Colonel Graham cited a note penned during the consideration
of the Andaman Islands Victoria Crosses that wondered if it was safe to
revive the ‘very dangerous Warrant that has remained dormant for 9 years.’
Admiral Everett pointed out that the 1858 warrant held the added danger of
diluting the military character of the award.^43 Oddly enough, not a single
member of the panel seemed aware of the amending warrant of 1881,
which dropped the noncombat qualification from the Cross.
The creation of the Albert Medal in 1866 to reward those who risked their
lives in saving lives at sea and its extension in 1877 to life saving on land
gave the committee an honorable means of disposing of the problem. The
Albert Medal was open to all subjects of the Crown, military and civilian,
and did not carry the intrinsic military baggage of the Victoria Cross.^44 Thus,
the committee was able to divorce the VC from noncombat incidents and
the clause was dropped from the new warrant.
Having knocked the already dead warrant of 1858 on the head entirely,
Ponsonby decided to postpone the question of posthumous awards and
attack the sticky proposal of incorporating women and civilians into the
warrant. The first order of business was to establish for the record the
official position of the various services branches and offices on the subject.
It is worth quoting the minutes of the meeting verbatim at this point, to
give the flavor of the moment:
MR MORGAN: On the question of awarding the Victoria Cross to women
I have received the opinions of various Government Departments. Shall
lily
(lily)
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