Post by David Cochrane on Jan 14, 2016 21:09:19 GMT
I remember this being discussed in the old VC-Reference forum years ago - the relative rarity of VCs (especially in comparison with the Medal of Honor) being awarded for people for so-called 'grenade incidents': people who fell on (or threw away) grenades or bombs that were about to explode.
Looking at both World Wars, here are figures for VCs (each war), GCs (WWII) and AMs (WWI), along with comparisons to the overall figures for each decoration for each War.
WWI
VCs - 16 (44% posthumous) / 628 (31% posthumous)
AMs (Gold) - 12 (58% posthumous) / 23 (43% posthumous)
AMs (Bronze) - 39 (18% posthumous) / 162 (15% posthumous)
WWII
VCs - 2 (100% posthumous) / 182 (51% posthumous)
GCs - 8 (100% posthumous) / 108 (50% posthumous)
I should note that if a person was decorated for a number of actions, one of which fitted the description, he was included - both of the WWII VCs (CSM Osborn & Rfn Lachhiman Gurung) belong in this category, for example.
For WWI, the distinction between decorations seems to be whether or not the act happened in battle - most of the AMs were given for incidents that happened during training behind the lines - but this isn't always the case. Second-Lieutenant Tunn, for instance, tried to deal with a grenade during an attack but was still given the AM; Private McFadzean, on the other hand, dove on two grenades before the day's battle began but still got the VC.
For WWII, there were no VCs given solely for such an act, and the GCs were pretty much all for training accidents.
Also, for what it's worth, some years ago I checked on the frequency of Medals of Honor being awarded for such acts - they hardly ever happened either during WWII, but became more frequent in Korea (c. 10% of medals) and even more so in Vietnam (c. 25%).
Looking at both World Wars, here are figures for VCs (each war), GCs (WWII) and AMs (WWI), along with comparisons to the overall figures for each decoration for each War.
WWI
VCs - 16 (44% posthumous) / 628 (31% posthumous)
AMs (Gold) - 12 (58% posthumous) / 23 (43% posthumous)
AMs (Bronze) - 39 (18% posthumous) / 162 (15% posthumous)
WWII
VCs - 2 (100% posthumous) / 182 (51% posthumous)
GCs - 8 (100% posthumous) / 108 (50% posthumous)
I should note that if a person was decorated for a number of actions, one of which fitted the description, he was included - both of the WWII VCs (CSM Osborn & Rfn Lachhiman Gurung) belong in this category, for example.
For WWI, the distinction between decorations seems to be whether or not the act happened in battle - most of the AMs were given for incidents that happened during training behind the lines - but this isn't always the case. Second-Lieutenant Tunn, for instance, tried to deal with a grenade during an attack but was still given the AM; Private McFadzean, on the other hand, dove on two grenades before the day's battle began but still got the VC.
For WWII, there were no VCs given solely for such an act, and the GCs were pretty much all for training accidents.
Also, for what it's worth, some years ago I checked on the frequency of Medals of Honor being awarded for such acts - they hardly ever happened either during WWII, but became more frequent in Korea (c. 10% of medals) and even more so in Vietnam (c. 25%).
