Victoria Cross 'winner' People of the Abyss

Jack London was credulous regarding the old sailor he met while waiting to get into the 'spike' one night :dupe: A spike was a shelter where the destitute might get shelter and food for a couple of nights in return for a day's hard work breaking rocks or picking apart old rope. The old man said he was 87 :skep: had seen action in military campaigns to China, India, and elsewhere, and that he had won a Victroria Cross but had been made to resign it after being court-marshalled for assaulting an officer who had insulted his mother :skep: :skep: Very few sailors won a VC; most were soldiers. Of them, eight winners of the VC were forced to give them up for committing a crime. None of them matched the circumstances of the man in the queue. To be fair, Jack London did not have access to the internet.