roughdiamond Posted 6 May , 2013 Share Posted 6 May , 2013 I'm currently reading Peter Englunds "The Beauty and the Sorrow", which I have to say I'm thoroughly enjoying, and can recommend as an account of the War from a less "traditional" view point (but hey that's for the book review sub-forum). One of the 20 personal narratives the book is based on is that of 1023 Pte/Sjt/Capt Alfred Oliver Pollard VC DCM MC&Bar Honourable Artillery Company, a very brave man I'd surprisingly never heard of, anyway! He writes that at the ceremony at Buckingham Palace "There are 24 Victoria Crosses being awarded, but there are only 18 Men waiting in the fenced-off area at Buckingham Palace: the other 6 are awarded posthumously". In his case 25% of VC's were "posthumous", would that be reflective of the percentage who died during the action they won the VC for or later of wounds sustained during it in WW1? The reason I ask is that of the 3 men born in my home town of Airdrie, all survived the War. Sam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ralphjd Posted 7 May , 2013 Share Posted 7 May , 2013 Sam. Sifting through David Harveys book Monuments to Courage 1914:- 29 survived the VC action of which 3 were subsequently killed; 21 died/killed durind the VC action. 1915:- 71 survived, 12 subsequently killed , 47 killed/died just after the action.Hope this helps. Ralph. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ralphjd Posted 7 May , 2013 Share Posted 7 May , 2013 Figures for 1916 :- 56 survived of which 10 were subsequently killed and 29 killed or died just after their VC action. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roughdiamond Posted 7 May , 2013 Author Share Posted 7 May , 2013 Thanks for that Ralph, didn't realise the posthumous percentage was so high, just shows how lucky the 3 Airdrie born men were. Sam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ralphjd Posted 7 May , 2013 Share Posted 7 May , 2013 Not a problem Sam, glad to help. Ralph. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ralphjd Posted 7 May , 2013 Share Posted 7 May , 2013 1917: 116 survived of which 14 were subsequently killed/died; 58 killed during their VC action or just after. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitchener's Bugle Posted 7 May , 2013 Share Posted 7 May , 2013 interestingly, the posthumous percentage for the Second World War is higher, and the bar was raised somewhat. WW1 627 Awarded of which 162 were posthumous WW2 181 Awarded of which 86 were posthumous Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierce09 Posted 7 May , 2013 Share Posted 7 May , 2013 just out of curiosity, i'm assuming that since the 2nd World War, the percentage was even higher? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roughdiamond Posted 7 May , 2013 Author Share Posted 7 May , 2013 So from the info above we have: 1914 - 29 survived - 21 died - 42% posthumous 1915 - 71 survived - 47 died - 40% posthumous 1916 - 56 survived - 29 died - 34% posthumous (very big drop in number awarded and % posthumous) 1917 - 116 survived - 58 died - 33.3% posthumous (doubling of the number awarded!!!!!!!!!!!) 1918 onward - 193 survived - 7 died - 3.5% posthumous (why such a huge anomaly in posthumous awards?) WW1 - 465 survived - 162 died - almost 26% posthumous If all the figures are correct it shows a big change in attitudes to the awarding of the VC from 40% posthumous in the 1st year and a half to 26% by the Wars end. Still find the fact from 1918 on only 7 were posthumous, can't be right surely? Sam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gibbo Posted 7 May , 2013 Share Posted 7 May , 2013 just out of curiosity, i'm assuming that since the 2nd World War, the percentage was even higher? According to Wikipedia: Korea: 4 in total, 2 posthumous. Indonesia: 1, not posthumous. Vietnam: 4, 2 posthumous. Falklands: 2, both posthumous. Afghanistan - British: 3, 2 posthumous. Afghanistan - VC for New Zealand: 1, not posthumous Afghanistan - VC for Australia, 3, none posthumous. I make that 44% posthumous if the VC for New Zealand and the VC for Australia are included, 57% if they are excluded on the grounds that they are different medals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ralphjd Posted 7 May , 2013 Share Posted 7 May , 2013 Dont know where the 1918 figures come from but I count :- 154 survived their VC action 19 subsequently killed later; 62 killed during their VC action. Ralph. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierce09 Posted 8 May , 2013 Share Posted 8 May , 2013 thanks Gibbo. the percentage for posthumous VCs in post-WW2 confilcts is higher than WW1. i'm now gonna look up pre-WW1 recipients!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roughdiamond Posted 8 May , 2013 Author Share Posted 8 May , 2013 I've not got a bee in my bonnet and I'm going through the list of VC recipients, so once it's finished I'll post the results. Sam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ralphjd Posted 8 May , 2013 Share Posted 8 May , 2013 Sam. If you need any information on the VCs let me know. Ralph. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roughdiamond Posted 8 May , 2013 Author Share Posted 8 May , 2013 Sam. If you need any information on the VCs let me know. Ralph. Ralph Lt Cdr Edgar Christopher Cookson RN was KIA on HMS Comet 28/09/15 http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/627913/COOKSON,%20EDGAR%20CHRISTOPHER his CWGC entry states his LG entry was dated 21/05/15, obviously wrong. I can't find an LG entry for his VC, all I can get is one from the Edinburgh Gazette dated 25/01/16 http://www.edinburgh-gazette.co.uk/issues/12898/pages/185 do you know of an LG entry? Sam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ralphjd Posted 8 May , 2013 Share Posted 8 May , 2013 Sam. He has an entry dated 21 January 1916 in the LG. In their search engine just put in the date from -to and words Victoria Cross, don' put his name in any of the boxes and you will find him. Ralph. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidbohl Posted 17 March Share Posted 17 March On 08/05/2013 at 16:13, roughdiamond said: Lt Cdr Edgar Christopher Cookson RN was KIA on HMS Comet 28/09/15 http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/627913/COOKSON,%20EDGAR%20CHRISTOPHER his CWGC entry states his LG entry was dated 21/05/15, obviously wrong. I can't find an LG entry for his VC, all I can get is one from the Edinburgh Gazette dated 25/01/16 http://www.edinburgh-gazette.co.uk/issues/12898/pages/185 do you know of an LG entry? Pretty old thread but his VC just sold for £220k see https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/wirral-wwi-heros-medal-sells-28812567 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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