200 AWARDED FOR VALOUR
environment, the 1950s, the 1960s, and in 1982 the factor in common was
that the hero killed the enemy.
During the Korean War four men earned Victoria Crosses.^66 In each
instance the Cross winner engaged in personal combat with the enemy;
three of the four died in the performance of the heroic act. A prime example
of the Haig-driven idea was exhibited by Major Kenneth Muir in 1950:
On 23 September near Songju, Korea, there was difficulty in evacuating
the wounded after a position had been captured, until Major Muir arrived
with a stretcher party. When the enemy started to launch a series of attacks
on the positions, the major took command and after a direct hit from a
fire-bomb, causing further casualties, he led a counter-attack and the crest
of the position was regained. He was determined to hold until all the
wounded had been evacuated and moved about his small force shouting
encouragement and firing a 2-inch mortar himself until he was mortally
wounded.^67
Muir’s VC came not due to his arrival to evacuate the wounded, nor even
to his taking command during the enemy counterattack, but rather to his
personal manning of a weapon and inflicting casualties on the enemy until
he himself was killed. In addition, Muir’s case bears a resemblance to that of
Daniel Laidlaw, piping encouragement through a cloud of British chlorine
at the Battle of Loos: the ‘direct hit from a fire-bomb’ was an incident of
friendly fire, an air-dropped napalm strike.^68
Australian involvement in the Vietnam conflict also generated four Victoria
Crosses. The involvement of Australian forces was initially confined to
providing advisors to the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. Although the
Australian presence eventually grew to 50,000 men and included combat
troops as well as advisors, the four VCs won went to members of the
Australian Army Training Team.^69
Despite the origins through the Australian chain of command, these
Southeast Asian VCs maintained a modified version of the tradition of the
First World War. Three of the four went to personal actions inflicting
casualties on the enemy. For example:
On 23 February 1967 in Vietnam, Major [Peter John] Badcoe rescued,
under heavy fire, a United States Medical Adviser. On 7 March he led his
company in an attack and turned what seemed to be certain defeat into a
victory. Again, on 7 April he attempted to lead his company against more
powerful opposition. This final act of bravery resulted in his death.^70
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