Thanks to Magnus for this one. It’s from a Times Online article about how the modern world lacks heroes. You can see the original article here if you really want to.
Where, indeed, have all our heroes gone? It would seem that to find civilian and non-combat heroes today, we have to look at the list of recipients of the George Cross (including its predecessors).
As the George Cross is the counterpart to the military Victoria Cross awarded for gallantry in combat, it is an award for those who of their own volition, and when they did not have to, stepped forward to put their own life and limb in jeopardy. Those heroes came from all walks of life, and (ranged from pensioners to school children as young as 13 and 14.
What is disturbing is to see that fewer and fewer whose actions have measured up to the George Cross standards.
1900-09 — 2
1910-19 — 31
1920-29 — 25
1930-39 — 91
1940-49 — 183
1950-59 — 18
1960-69 — 7
1970-79 — 11
1980-89 — 0
1990-99 — 3
2000- 4(The war presented more opportunities for heroism.)
Is the Health and Safety Nanny breeding heroism out of the British character?
Bob Evans, Anaheim, California
Your chart really brought it home to me. Where’s the opportunity for heroism when all our wars involve bombing the fuck out of poor people, thousands of miles away, who are no threat to us whatsoever? We need to start a war with someone who’s:
- Local
- Armed
- No, sticks don’t count. Armed like we are, with aircraft carriers and fighter jets and 500lb bombs.
Only then will we see the necessary rise in the number of people losing limbs whilst trying to save dying children.
Of course, this would all be rather inconvenient and expensive so, as an alternative, I propose that we just start awarding the George Cross to the people we’re bombing instead. We’ve got a guaranteed supply of heroes there. Every last one of them has tragically lost family members and body parts. Perfect.
I have an alternate suggestion. If we can be seen to be more heroic by handing out more of the George Cross, why not just lower the bar, a bit like the way we now award A Levels or Degrees.
More people going to university? Then we must have loads more brilliant teachers and much brighter kids.
Why limit the qualification to just the army? We could give out the Cross for traffic wardens who dont run away when abused by members of the public, or any fireman who goes on a call, or perhaps anyone who rides a bike in London.
We could be the most heroic country in the world….ever!
Yeah, we could call the new award the Tony or something. The have-a-go-hero award, always awarded posthumously
Also Bob is a terrible researcher or perhaps a lying turd. According to the BBC:
The Victoria Cross is the highest award for gallantry that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. It is given only for great acts of bravery in times of extreme danger.
Only 11 have been awarded since 1946 - the last two occasions were to Lieutenant Colonel Herbert Jones and Sergeant Ian McKay, who both died in the Falklands war in 1982 (None in this period according to Bob).
The George Cross, instituted by the Queen’s father, George VI, during the World War II, is awarded primarily to civilians and ranks second only to the Victoria Cross.
A total of 155 GCs have been awarded, 82 posthumously.
The most recent was awarded in 1999 to the entire Royal Ulster Constabulary, which was then renamed the Police Force of Northern Ireland.
The George Cross also comes with an annuity of £1,495. Perhaps we could look at creative uses of the George Cross to massage some of the other figures a little?
Nice that Bob is concerned about a lack of British heroes.
No doubt this is why he moved to California, to observe fine American heroes.
Abu Ghraib anyone?
“Only 11 have been awarded since 1946 - the last two occasions were to Lieutenant Colonel Herbert Jones and Sergeant Ian McKay, who both died in the Falklands war in 1982 (None in this period according to Bob).”
I think one was awarded last year to a soldier in Iraq.
The George Cross was institutued in 1940, so according to Bob’s list 150 people qualified by means of time-travel.
Whatever happened to those medals the size of a frying pan? They could give those out together with a lifetime’s supply of bacon and sausages.
I won a medal for the high jump when I was seven. I came second to a girl. I’ve tried to adopt this position in other aspects of my life with variable levels of success.
(Do you see what I did there? Very clever, I know.)
Also the entire island of Malta was awarded that very cross. Not so you notice much as it’s only part of the flag. ‘Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism -how passionately I hate them’(Einstein)
I think the problem is that not enough people are getting themselves into peril and thus their colleagues and friends are not being given the opportunities for heroism. More car crashes, aircraft fires, knife attacks and air raids are required to get the numbers of GC recipients back up to the proper levels.
Oh and Bob’s stats are dodgier than a 7 year old Vesta curry.
I’ve won four of ‘em, me. In the last fortnight. So don’t start all that exclusive shit, or I’ll machine-gun you single-handed.