DVA 129 Monday 20 August 2001

This Week In History - Our Wartime Heritage

Issued by the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Bruce Scott, to foster awareness of Australia’s wartime history and heritage during the Centenary of Federation.

23-30 August

23 August 1918: Lieutenant William Joynt, 8th Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, originally from Elsternwick, Victoria, won the Victoria Cross for his valour at Herleville Wood, France. When the leading battalion suffered heavy casualties, Lieutenant Joynt rushed ahead under heavy artillery and machine-gun fire, organised the remnants of the battalion and kept them under cover until his own men arrived. He then led a frontal bayonet charge on the enemy positions, catching the German troops off guard and saving a critical situation. Later at Plateau Wood, Lieutenant Joynt led another group of men in fierce hand-to-hand fighting, forcing the surrender of enemy troops, and continued to lead his men until being badly wounded by a shell-burst.

23 August 1918: Lieutenant Lawrence McCarthy, 16th Battalion, 4th Brigade, 4th Division, originally from York, WA, won the Victoria Cross at Madame Wood, France. As members of another battalion came under heavy fire, Lieutenant McCarthy led two other men on an attack on the nearest machine-gun post. Out-distancing his men, he single-handedly captured the gun, then continued to fight his way along the trench, killing 20 enemy troops, capturing five guns and taking 50 prisoners.

25 August-7 September 1942: The Battle of Milne Bay, New Guinea. The Japanese attempted to seize Allied airfields at Milne Bay to secure a base for naval and air support of an attack on Port Moresby along the Kokoda Track. Believing Milne Bay to be defended by only a few companies of infantry, the Japanese commanders sent a force of 2000 marines. The base in fact was defended by almost 9000 Allied personnel, including more than 4500 Australian infantrymen, supported by Kittyhawk fighters flown by 75 and 76 Squadrons RAAF. After the Japanese marines were landed in the wrong place, 11 kilometres from the nearest airfield, they pushed westwards and finally reached the first air strip on 29 August. After receiving 800 reinforcements, the Japanese attacked the airfield on 31 August, but suffered heavy casualties and were forced to withdraw. The Australians counter-attacked and by 6 September had driven the Japanese forces back to their main base.

The Battle of Milne Bay resulted in 373 Australian casualties, including 167 killed or missing, with another 14 men killed in US Army units. Of the 2800 Japanese landed, only 1318 were evacuated. At least 750 were killed during the battle, with most of the remaining enemy troops killed by Australian patrols as they tried to make their way overland to the Japanese base at Buna. This was the first defeat of a Japanese amphibious operation during the war and is credited with ending the myth of Japan’s military invincibility.

27 August 1918: Lance Corporal Bernard Gordon, 41st Battalion, 11th Brigade, 3rd Division, originally from Launceston, Tasmania, was awarded the Victoria Cross for his valour near Bray, France. Advancing under heavy fire, Lance Corporal Gordon single-handedly captured a machine-gun post that was attacking another company. He continued to fight his way through the enemy trenches and was credited with capturing six machine-guns and 63 prisoners, as well as inflicting heavy casualties.

29 August 1919: Sergeant Samuel Pearse, 45th Battalion Royal Fusiliers, from near Mildura, Victoria, was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions north of Emsta, North Russia. A veteran of both Gallipoli and the Western Front, Sergeant Pearse volunteered for the British North Russia Relief Force in 1919. During an attack on a Bolshevik artillery position, Sergeant Pearse cut his way through barbed wire under heavy fire to clear the way for his comrades. He then charged a blockhouse which was inflicting heavy casualties and killed the occupants with grenades, before being killed by machine-gun fire.

29 August 1942: Private Bruce Kingsbury, 2/14th Battalion, 21st Brigade, 7th Division, originally from Melbourne, was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his valour at Isurava on the Kokoda Track. The battalion had been holding positions at Isurava in the face of the Japanese advance from Kokoda, when an enemy attack broke through on the right flank, threatening to capture the battalion headquarters. Private Kingsbury, whose own platoon had been decimated in the attack, joined another platoon that was about to launch a counterattack. Private Kingsbury rushed forward, firing his Bren machine-gun from the hip, clearing a path through the Japanese troops and inflicting heavy casualties. He was killed by an enemy sniper, but his actions saved the battalion HQ. Private Kingsbury’s Victoria Cross was the first to be awarded during the war in the Pacific.

Media Contact: Mark Croxford (02) 6277 7820 or 0408 645 787



[Return to DVA media release index]

