Too Bold to Die: The Making of Australian War Heroes by McPhedran Ian

Author:McPhedran, Ian [McPhedran, Ian]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2013-09-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

Responsibility

For almost 40 years Keith Payne VC had the honour — and shouldered the burden — of being the last Australian soldier to be awarded the Victoria Cross for conspicuous gallantry in the face of the enemy.

These days, after the 2009 death of Ted Kenna VC, the final surviving Victoria Cross recipient from World War II, Payne is the sole living Australian holder of the imperial VC.

He has now been joined in the ranks of the bravest of the brave by SAS soldiers Mark Donaldson and Ben Roberts-Smith and 6 RAR infantryman Dan Keighran, who received the new Victoria Cross for Australia during the 12-year Afghanistan campaign.

A total of 96 Australians have been awarded the imperial VC, and the three from Afghanistan are the first to receive the Victoria Cross for Australia, which superseded the imperial version in 1991.

By far the most VCs were awarded to Australian soldiers in World War I — 63 men were bestowed with the top medal. More than 70 men who were recommended for VCs were denied by the review process.

The stories of famous VC winners, such as Albert Jacka at Gallipoli, are welded into the national narrative. Tales of the dozens of selfless acts of courage that on paper at least appear to be worthy of the top honour, but were knocked back, are less well known. They are men such as Lieutenant John Patrick Tunn from the 9th Battalion AIF who recovered a dropped live grenade and lost his right hand as he saved his mates from the explosion. He did not receive any award.

At least Lieutenant Norman Frederick Bremner of the 47th Battalion was granted a Distinguished Service Order, after he was recommended and denied a VC for his gallantry at Messines in Belgium in June 1917. As the acting adjutant, Lieutenant Bremner volunteered to extricate his company after it had become isolated with the loss of all its officers.

His citation is a remarkable narrative of bravery under fire and has a similar tone to that of Mark Donaldson 95 years later.

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