The navy used to have an arguably very fair system for the distribution of gallantry medals. If a ship had acquitted itself well in action it might be awarded, say, 3 Distinguished Service Medals for allocation among the crew. Very often these were decided by drawing lots. I once owned a Distinguished Service Medal which had been awarded to a crew member of a destroyer which took part in the D Day landings. The recipient was one of the ship's cooks, and according to his diary which accompanied the medal he spent most of D Day below decks baking bread. It could be argued that providing the crew with fresh bread was a big a contribution to its success in action as efficient gun-serving. Whatever you thought of this system, no-one could complain that the medal was undeserved, the ship had been awarded it and the recipient had picked the lucky number. Might not work for top awards, but for lower tier medals the system has its merits.