them was awful. Dead and mutilated bodies were everywhere – by God! May I never see such sights again! . . .'"Herbert Walker, a soldier serving in the punitive expedition, believed that the human sacrifices he saw were an attempt by Benin City residents to appease the Gods as they tried to defend themselves from the expedition. According to Robin Law, the issue of human sacrifices is an extremely sensitive one and prone to bias. Law suggests that the reported extent the practice in Benin was exaggerated by the British in order to establish the need for military intervention. Historian Dan Hicks has described the punitive expedition's actions during their push to Benin City as democidal, claiming that it involved: "massacres of towns and villages from the air and thus women and children across the whole of the Benin Kingdom, scorching the earth with rockets, fire and mines. Primary among the war crimes was the scale of the killing and bombings of civilian targets." On 18 February Benin City was captured by the expedition, in spite of its defensive iya. The city was set ablaze, although it has been claimed that this was accidental. Eight members of the punitive force were recorded as being killed in action during the Benin Expedition; the number of military and civilian casualties amongst the Benin people was not estimated but is thought to have been very high. The Benin Expedition was described as such: "In twenty-nine days a force of 1,200 men, coming from three places between 3000 and 4500 m. from the Benin river, was landed, organized, equipped and provided with transport. Five days later the city of Benin was taken, and in twelve days more the men were re-embarked, and the ships coaled and ready for any further service." All-in-all, around 5,000 men were mobilised for the expedition, which took place over three weeks. Aftermath After the capture of Benin City, houses, sacred sites, ceremonial buildings and palaces of many high-ranking chiefs were looted and many buildings were burned down, including the Palace building itself on Sunday 21 February. There was evidence of previous human sacrifice found by members of the expedition, with journalists from Reuters and the Illustrated London News reporting that the town 'reeked of human blood.' Inside the abandoned palace, a terrible sight was revealed to the British. The Oba in panic of what he had done and in