The lack of medal was and is a disgrace.
I've often thought about the losses issue - perhaps at the time, the losses were very high in percentage terms but for a lot of people who had served (or whose family had served) in WW1 they weren't so striking on a total basis. WW1 infantry on the western front suffered a steady drizzle of deaths every day due to artillery. Bomber Command lost 55,573 aircrew over 6 years - which is very close to the total British casualties on the first day of the Somme (tho "only" 19,240 killed). People just seem to have accepted it as necessary. They were different people and different times to today you have to say.
Very very brave men