- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 360
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/core/Content/displayPrintable.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/07/25/wvc25.xml&site=5&page=0
VC awarded for officer's charge at Gallipoli fetches record £491,000
By Nigel Reynolds, Arts Correspondent
(Filed: 25/07/2006)
A Victoria Cross awarded posthumously to an Australian infantry officer at Gallipoli in 1915 has fetched a world record auction price of £491,567 at a sale in Sydney.
Capt Alfred John Shout, Australia's most decorated soldier in the campaign, died in an assault on Turkish trenches at the battle of Lone Pine after a bomb he intended to throw exploded prematurely, blowing off a hand and injuring his face and body.
His VC was one of nine won by Australians at Gallipoli and was the last in private hands. It was sold by Capt Shout's 67-year-old grandson to pay for his health care and to help provide for his children.
It was bought by an anonymous Australian who says that he may put it on public display at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra to reunite it with eight other Gallipoli medals awarded to Australians.
The price was more than double the previous auction record - £235,250, which was paid at a Spink's auction in London in 2004. That was for the VC won by RAF airman, David Jackson, for climbing out of a Lancaster bomber at 22,000ft and 200mph to put out an engine fire while the plane was being raked by enemy fire. Captain Shout, who was born in New Zealand in 1881 and fought in the Boer War, died three days after he was injured.
In August 1915, a week after being promoted captain, he was involved in five days of savage fighting when 1Bn of the Australian 1st Infantry Brigade launched a diversionary assault on enemy trenches at Lone Pine, a battle which saw the Australians win seven VCs.
The night before the attack, he told Lance Corporal Alexander Ross McQueen: "We shall make a name for Australia and ourselves tomorrow, Mac."
On the morning of day five after a wave of Turkish counter-attacks, Capt Shout led an assault on a trench and killed eight Turks with bombs.
In the afternoon, seeing the enemy regroup, Capt Shout and Captain Cecil Sasse charged down another trench - Shout threw bombs while Sasse was shooting.
Eight enlisted men built a barricade as each section of trench was secured.
Capt Shout prepared for the final dash of the day to capture one more section of the trench.
Having lit three bombs, he hurled two before the third went off, fatally injuring him. He was awarded his VC posthumously for "conspicuous bravery".
Captain Shout had only returned to action three months earlier after being shot in the arm and side soon after Australian forces had landed at Anzac Cove in April. Pinned down by enemy fire, he planned and led a bayonet charge on a Turkish position. Once it was secured, he and a corporal crawled beneath machinegun fire to a new position to fire on the Turks when he was wounded.
A colleague recorded: "That was the bravest thing I ever saw." Captain Shout was awarded the Military Cross.
The suffering of Capt Shout's family did not end with his death. Bureaucratic bungling meant that his widow, Rose, was first informed that he had died, then told he had been injured a second time and was returning home.
She was awarded a derisory annual pension of £91, based on her husband's rank as a lieutenant.
After a fight in which she had to remind the authorities that he had been promoted to captain and had also won the VC, it was marginally improved to £101.
The following year the Returned Soldiers' Association launched an appeal to help her buy a home. Captain Shout's MC and other service medals were included in yesterday's sale.
VC awarded for officer's charge at Gallipoli fetches record £491,000
By Nigel Reynolds, Arts Correspondent
(Filed: 25/07/2006)
A Victoria Cross awarded posthumously to an Australian infantry officer at Gallipoli in 1915 has fetched a world record auction price of £491,567 at a sale in Sydney.
Capt Alfred John Shout, Australia's most decorated soldier in the campaign, died in an assault on Turkish trenches at the battle of Lone Pine after a bomb he intended to throw exploded prematurely, blowing off a hand and injuring his face and body.
His VC was one of nine won by Australians at Gallipoli and was the last in private hands. It was sold by Capt Shout's 67-year-old grandson to pay for his health care and to help provide for his children.
It was bought by an anonymous Australian who says that he may put it on public display at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra to reunite it with eight other Gallipoli medals awarded to Australians.
The price was more than double the previous auction record - £235,250, which was paid at a Spink's auction in London in 2004. That was for the VC won by RAF airman, David Jackson, for climbing out of a Lancaster bomber at 22,000ft and 200mph to put out an engine fire while the plane was being raked by enemy fire. Captain Shout, who was born in New Zealand in 1881 and fought in the Boer War, died three days after he was injured.
In August 1915, a week after being promoted captain, he was involved in five days of savage fighting when 1Bn of the Australian 1st Infantry Brigade launched a diversionary assault on enemy trenches at Lone Pine, a battle which saw the Australians win seven VCs.
The night before the attack, he told Lance Corporal Alexander Ross McQueen: "We shall make a name for Australia and ourselves tomorrow, Mac."
On the morning of day five after a wave of Turkish counter-attacks, Capt Shout led an assault on a trench and killed eight Turks with bombs.
In the afternoon, seeing the enemy regroup, Capt Shout and Captain Cecil Sasse charged down another trench - Shout threw bombs while Sasse was shooting.
Eight enlisted men built a barricade as each section of trench was secured.
Capt Shout prepared for the final dash of the day to capture one more section of the trench.
Having lit three bombs, he hurled two before the third went off, fatally injuring him. He was awarded his VC posthumously for "conspicuous bravery".
Captain Shout had only returned to action three months earlier after being shot in the arm and side soon after Australian forces had landed at Anzac Cove in April. Pinned down by enemy fire, he planned and led a bayonet charge on a Turkish position. Once it was secured, he and a corporal crawled beneath machinegun fire to a new position to fire on the Turks when he was wounded.
A colleague recorded: "That was the bravest thing I ever saw." Captain Shout was awarded the Military Cross.
The suffering of Capt Shout's family did not end with his death. Bureaucratic bungling meant that his widow, Rose, was first informed that he had died, then told he had been injured a second time and was returning home.
She was awarded a derisory annual pension of £91, based on her husband's rank as a lieutenant.
After a fight in which she had to remind the authorities that he had been promoted to captain and had also won the VC, it was marginally improved to £101.
The following year the Returned Soldiers' Association launched an appeal to help her buy a home. Captain Shout's MC and other service medals were included in yesterday's sale.
