180 AWARDED FOR VALOUR
of the posthumous principle that more than anything else revealed his ignor-
ance on the subject. He managed to promote Freddy Roberts to captain in
citing the first posthumous award, and offered no explanation as to why
he got it when so many others had not. Nor did he cite any of the early
queries to Lord Panmure, which had established the precedent that the Cross
was an order for the living rather than a decoration for the dead.^54 This
exchange illustrates the gulf that had grown between the reality of heroism
and the perceptions of the masters of the military. Here they sat in judg-
ment of the heroic ideal, yet they had no concrete history of the Cross to
work with.
The chairman was scarcely better in his assertion that ‘no man can get the
V.C. when he gets killed during the action in which he earns the distinction.’
The committee then argued pointlessly as to the precise moment a dead
man was actually dead for bureaucratic purposes, completely disregarding
the fact that dead men had been winning VCs since 1914 on a fairly regular
basis. At length Ponsonby concluded the debate by deciding everyone was
in favor of the addition of a paragraph specifically allowing posthumous
awards of the medal.^55
After a short further debate on the subject of civilian eligibility, the
committee adjourned on the proposal that Morgan prepare a new draft of
the warrant incorporating the changes decided during the meeting. This
would be distributed to the concerned departments for internal discussions
on approval or amendment. A tentative second meeting of the committee
was scheduled for ‘about three weeks later’ to hammer out any fine points,
after which the draft would be submitted to the Army Council and the
Admiralty Board for final approval before sending it to his majesty for
signature.^56
September and October 1918 came and went without the panel recon-
vening. The momentous events in France of those months overshadowed
the need to revamp the parameters of the Victoria Cross. When the
committee did meet again on 12 November 1918, it was flushed with the
news of the Armistice. The service branches had been given sufficient time
thoroughly to examine the proposals and come to grips with the changes,
as opposed to the first meeting, called less than a fortnight after the initial
broaching of the subject. The two most vociferous members of the panel,
the misogynistic Everett and the rambling Graham, were replaced; the
Admiralty sent Naval Secretary Commodore Sir Rudolf (Walter) Bentinck
and the Army spoke its will through Lieutenant-Colonel Lord Herbert
A. Montague-Scott.^57 These circumstances combined to make the second
meeting flow much more smoothly than the first.
lily
(lily)
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