THE IMPERIAL VISION OF HEROISM 81
the wounded or stranded less of a life-saving imperative. Overall he saw to it
that the VC became harder to gain during his tenure as theatre commander.
Of the 12 men noted on a War Office minute sheet as nominees for the
Cross, only two got it. Three were given the Distinguished Conduct Medal,
two the Distinguished Service Order, and one was given consideration for
the DSO in place of the VCs for which they had been recommended. The
other four claims were dismissed entirely.^29
Kitchener was one of the few officers who used these lesser awards to his
advantage. The Distinguished Conduct Medal (non-commissioned officers
and enlisted only, established 1854) and the Distinguished Service Order
(officer only, established 1886)^30 gave him the opportunity to recognize
deserving services while maintaining the integrity of the VC as a paramount
award. The recommendations of two men from the 69th Battery Royal Field
Artillery provide a case in point for the Kitchener ideal of heroism.
Major A. J. Chapman, Officer Commanding the troops at Itala Camp,
Zululand, recommended Driver 3015 Frederick Henry Bradley and Gunner
14494 W. H. Rabb for their conduct during the Boer attack on the camp on
26 September 1901. He stressed in his recommendation that he gave equal
weight to both men. Both had, without hesitation, darted out to recover
a wounded mate, Driver Lancashire. Once they had the man under cover,
Rabb tended him while Bradley went out to continue Lancashire’s task,
bringing up ammunition across 150 yards of exposed, fire-swept ground.^31
Kitchener passed on the recommendation, but only gave his endorse-
ment to Bradley; Rabb he lumped in with three men that Chapman
had put forward for the DCM (Driver E. Lancashire, Gunner M. Boddy,
and Gunner A. Ball). He included a sequence of events to support his
position.
Lancashire and Ball responded to a call for volunteers to carry ammunition
to the infantry on the firing line and started up the hill with a case of
rifle cartridges. Lancashire was hit by Boer rifle fire, the box was dropped,
and Ball took cover. Bradley and Rabb went out to recover Lancashire on
their own initiative. While Rabb tended Lancashire Bradley enlisted the help
of Boddy to drag the ammunition box out of the line of fire. The two
filled their pockets with cartridge packs and ran the gauntlet to the top
of the hill, delivering the much-needed ammunition to the infantry. In
Kitchener’s estimation the only one who had shown both initiative and
courage warranting a Cross was Bradley.^32 It is interesting to note that
neither Ball nor Lancashire were ever considered for the VC; in the 1850s
being ‘first to volunteer’ for hazardous duty was widely considered grounds
for recommendation, but times had clearly changed.
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