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Recipients of the Victoria Cross

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Recipients of the Victoria Cross Recipients of the Victoria Cross Recipients of the Victoria Cross The following 26 stories are about outstanding valour on the battlefields of the Great War. They tell the story of those men, either born or resident of Victoria, or who enlisted here, who were recipients of the Victoria Cross, the British Empire’s highest award for bravery in wartime, and now Australia’s pre-eminent award for conspicuous gallantry in combat. he award dates back to 1856 when it was instituted by Queen Not surprisingly most of the exploits occurred at Gallipoli and on TVictoria after the Crimean War and made retrospective to cover that the various battlefields of France; this includes the first Australian soldier conflict. It is an award that from the outset could be awarded to a soldier of the war to receive the Victoria Cross, Albert Jacka. of any rank, providing the action could be attested by witnesses and But other actions occurred in further fields. William Dartnell, born took place ‘in the face of the enemy’. in Collingwood in 1885 and buried in Kenya, was awarded his Victoria When hostilities broke out between the great powers of Europe Cross posthumously, after dying in September 1915 while fighting one hundred years ago, Australia had been a nation for only 14 years. against the German army in East Africa. The colony of Victoria had been established in 1851, only five years Samuel Pearse was born in Wales, migrated to Mildura, joined up before the introduction of the Victoria Cross, and the Queen had given when he was 17 and survived France, but received his posthumous her name to both. In 1914, the nation went to war as part of the British Victoria Cross for fighting with the British in Russia against the Empire, with Prime Minister Andrew Fisher vowing to support Great Bolsheviks in 1919. The account of his death is another example of Britain ‘to our last man and our last shilling’. extraordinary bravery, and where he earned his award demonstrates In Victoria, enthusiasm for participation appears to have been particularly the breadth and complexity of conflict spawned by the Great War. strong. It is not hard to understand why. This was not contemporary These 26 stories are not about celebration; rather, they commemorate multi-cultural Australia. With one exception, the 26 names of the recipients the feats of ordinary men who became extraordinary in the midst of are of Anglo-Celtic origin, and many had been born in the United Kingdom. battle. When we read about what they did we can only wonder how any The notion of the mother country was deeply embedded in the majority of them survived, but many did and returned to Victoria to lead long of the population who saw Australia as an extension of ‘home’. Also, as and fruitful lives. with all the countries involved, there was initial exuberance, a quest for But lest we forget, many Victorians – and Australians – did not return. adventure and a naiveté about war that had men flocking to enlist. Young men from many nations did not return. Those who did come back Some of that exuberance is reflected in these pages. were often physically and mentally broken. Despite the shared ethnic and cultural background of the 26 men, they These 26 men are not Victoria’s only wartime heroes. Rather, these stories, were all very different. Some were extremely young and many were from remarkable as they are, lead us to remembrance of the often unsung the bush, but their education and occupations – of those who were old selflessness, sacrifice, courage and determination of so many Australian enough to have one – were varied, and for those who survived, their men and women who have served at home and abroad throughout our futures were equally mixed. Most ranks are represented but it is the nation’s history. non-commissioned officers who dominate the list. Victoria’s World War One Legacy Recipients of the Victoria Cross › 3 Lest We Forget “Everyone has a connection to the First World War, “August 2014 marks 100 years since the beginning of the either through family, local community, place of work or First World War. Over the Centenary, we will remember the country of origin. The Anzac Centenary is an occasion for troops who served in the Pacific, at Gallipoli, in the Middle Victorians of all backgrounds and cultures to remember East and on the Western Front.” those who served.” The Hon Dr Denis Napthine MP The Hon Damian Drum MLC Premier of Victoria Minister for Veterans’ Affairs 4 ‹ Anzac Centenary 2014 – 2018 Contents 6 Robert Matthew6 Beatham 19 Albert 19David Lowerson 7 Frederick7 Birks 20 Robert20 Mactier 8 Albert8 Borella 21 Frank Hubert21 McNamara 9 Maurice Vincent9 Buckley 22 Rupert22 Vance Moon 10 Alexander10 Stewart Burton 23 George Raymond23 Dallas Moor 11 Percy 11Herbert Cherry 24 James Ernest24 Newland 12 Thomas12 Cooke 25 Samuel25 George Pearse 13 William 13Thomas Dartnell 26 Walter26 Peeler 14 William14 Dunstan 27 William27 Ruthven 15 Robert 15Cuthbert Grieve 28 Clifford William28 King Sadlier 16 George16 Mawby Ingram 29 Issy29 Smith 17 Albert17 Jacka 30 William30 John Symons 18 William18 Donovan Joynt 31 Frederick31 Harold Tubb Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this publication contains images of people who have passed away. Victoria’s World War One Legacy Recipients of the Victoria Cross › 5 Robert Matthew Beatham obert Beatham was born in Over the next two years On 9 August near Rosières, Date of birth the small northern English Beatham was in the thick of the he received his Victoria Cross. 16 June 1894 R town of Glassonby, Cumberland action, as his battalion took part When his company was held up in 1894. One of nine sons of John in many of the major battles of by multiple machine-gun Place of birth and Elizabeth Beatham, he the war. He was seriously positions, Beatham and Lance- Glassonby, migrated with his brother Walter wounded during the ferocious Corporal Nottingham charged Cumberland (Cumbria), to Australia in 1913. When war Battle of Pozières in August 1916 forward with rifles and hand England broke out he was working as a and did not return to his unit grenades, destroying four of the labourer in Geelong, Victoria. On for a year. In October 1917, he positions and killing and Date of death 8 January 1915, Beatham enlisted was once again wounded, this capturing two dozen Germans. 9 August 1918 in the 1st Australian Imperial time at Broodseinde during Although wounded, Beatham Force (AIF) and undertook basic the bloody slaughter of continued to advance but was cut Place of death training at Broadmeadows camp. Passchendaele, and evacuated down by machine-gun fire while Near Rosières, France His father and six of his brothers to England to recover. In February destroying a fifth position. He would also serve during the Great 1918, he returned to his unit and died instantly and was buried at War. On 17 April, Beatham soon after took part in the fighting Heath Commonwealth War boarded His Majesty’s Australian to stem General Ludendorff’s Graves Cemetery near Transport (HMAT) Hororata at offensive. Harbonnières. In March 1919, Port Melbourne with other his mother received his Victoria reinforcements for the Cross from King George V at 8th Battalion. After several weeks Buckingham Palace. Tragically, he in Egypt, he returned to Australia was the fourth of her sons killed on medical grounds. Following during the Great War. treatment, he re-embarked in September and served briefly at Gallipoli. In March 1916, he arrived in France and soon was on the Western Front with the rest of the 1st Division. 6 ‹ Anzac Centenary 2014 – 2018 Frederick Birks rederick Birks was born in In early April 1915, after several On 20 September, his company Date of birth 1894 in the small mining town months training in Egypt, they set was in Glencorse Wood. Here 16 August 1894 F of Buckley, Flintshire in North sail once again, this time for they were held up by German Wales. One of six children of Lemnos in the Aegean Sea, where machine-gun fire and Birks, Place of birth Samuel and Mary Birks, life was final preparations for the Gallipoli accompanied by a Corporal, Buckley, Flintshire, not easy after the death of his landings took place. Landing with charged the enemy gun. After North Wales father in a pit accident at the his unit on 25 April, Birks was the Corporal fell wounded, Birks colliery when Birks was five years soon in the thick of the action. killed the German crew and Date of death old. He attended St Matthew’s Serving with the 2nd Brigade at captured the weapon. He then 21 September 1917 Church of England school and Cape Helles during the Battle of organised a small group of men to was an exemplary pupil, as well Krithia, he was recommended for attack another strong point. This Place of death as a good boxer and footballer. the Military Medal. In late June position was also taken before Glencorse Wood, Belgium Leaving school at 14, Birks found he was wounded by shrapnel but Birks pressed forward and, work at the local steelworks. In soon after returned to duty. By organising men of various units, 1910, he is believed to have joined late September he had returned he helped consolidate the gains the local Territorial Army unit to Egypt. He sailed for Marseilles the Australians had made at the serving in the Royal Artillery. with the rest of the AIF in edge of Polygon Wood. The next An adventurous young man, he March 1916.
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