We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 February 2015
The system of awarding medals for bravery was notoriously uneven in application. Every combat veteran recalls someone who missed out unfairly on a ‘gong’. Some also have grievances about cases where individuals did win medals. There were quotas of medals set for campaigns and units, and there was great scope for personal prejudice and luck in the process of recommendation. Moreover, those with the power to give awards in the 6th Division seem to have taken perverse satisfaction in being parsimonious about it. For example, a wartime publication of the 2/2nd Battalion boasted that where decorations were concerned the unit had imposed standards that were ‘rigid to the degree of harshness’. The unit subsequently received one of the division's only two VCs: there should have been more. A similar example comes from the 2/5th Battalion. Private John Vincent, pictured in Photograph 9.9, took a leading role in a 10-day patrol in April 1943. After the war when he met his company commander, the latter reportedly told Vincent: ‘Sorry about the M.I.D. recommendation [for this patrol] – the Colonel didn't believe in decorations. He thought it was “One in All in”’.
Most of the division's awards for distinguished or gallant service or conduct are listed in Table 14. It is based mainly on the unit histories, the AWM Honours and Awards Database and the Australian Military Units section of the AWM website. It has at times been impossible to find conclusive figures.
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.
