CONCLUSION: THE NEW HERO IN ACTION, 1940–2006 201
The fourth Vietnam VC was earned for leadership in conducting a fighting
withdrawal. While the aggressive heritage of the Western Front Cross was
evident in the Australian awards, there was a divergence from the British
tradition. In each case the citation pointed out that part of the action was
taken to defend or extract wounded or cut-off troops.
Three Victoria Crosses were won in the small battles in the twilight of
empire. These VCs were earned through post-war imperial commitments,
and in each instance the heroism displayed conformed to Haig’s vision.^71 All
three winners made single-handed assaults on enemy machine-gun emplace-
ments; two did not survive their attempts:
On 12 June 1982 on Mount Longdon, East Falkland, Sergeant [Ian John]
McKay was in command of his platoon, its commander having been
wounded in the leg. They were pinned down by heavy enemy fire and
several of the men had been either killed or wounded. Sergeant McKay
realized that something must be done and he charged the enemy alone.
He was killed at the moment of his victory, but his action enabled his
comrades to extricate themselves from a most dangerous situation.^72
Had McKay carried a Lee-Enfield Mk III bolt-action instead of an L1A1 rifle,
his citation could have been for action at Arras.
As of this writing (February 2007) the Victoria Cross has entered the
twenty-first century with a pair of Crosses won in connection with British
operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. They split the divide between life saving
and war winning exactly.
Private Johnson Beharry of the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment won
his VC for life saving in Al Amarah, Iraq. On 1 May 2004 his Warrior
armored fighting vehicle (AFV) was hit by multiple rocket-propelled gren-
ades, knocking out communications, wounding the platoon commander,
the gunner and a number of other men in the vehicle, and setting the
vehicle on fire. Beharry accelerated out of the ambush, leading five other
AFVs to safety. Once he stopped at the Clinic House outpost he dismounted
and while still under small-arms fire climbed the burning AFV to remove
his wounded commander from the turret, returned under fire a second
time to do the same with the gunner, and then led the disoriented and
wounded men from the troop compartment to safety. On 11 June 2004 he
was again at the controls of a Warrior when it came under attack. In the
initial volley of rocket grenades one hit the frontal armor six inches from
his head, resulting in severe injuries. Despite the wounds, he reversed the
lily
(lily)
#1