Victoria Cross Memorial

War Memorials in Australia

Place: Campbell, Australian Capital Territory, 2612
District: Southern Tablelands (ACT)
Orientation: Suburb of Canberra
Location: Victoria Cross Park, Howse Street and Derrick Street
Position: 35 17 12 S 149 09 36 E
Ref: 00031

__________________________

The memorial was dedicated on 24 July 2000 and commemorates the 96 Australians who have been awarded the Victoria Cross. It consists of two curved stone walls standing on a flagstone base and with a path between the two walls. In the path is a flagstone inlaid with a bronze Victoria Cross

The date of the dedication was 100 years after the event which led to the first award of the Victoria Cross to an Australian.

Plaque on west wall
Boxed photograph of Captain Howse to left of text
_______________________________
Sir Neville Reginald Howse

First Australian Recipient of the
Victoria Cross
_______________________________

	Neville Reginald Howse was born on 26 October 1863 in Stogursey, Somerset, England. Howse trained as
	a doctor and emigrated to Australia in 1889 where he went into practice at Taree New South Wales.
	In 1895 he was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons and in 1899 he settled in Orange, New
	South Wales.
	.
	During the South African War of 1899-1902 - the Boer War - Howse received a commission as a Lieutenant
	in the NSW Army Medical Corps. On 24 July 1900, near Vredefort, Orange Free State, Howse's unit was
	attached to a force pursuing a party of Boers. A sharp action ensued during which Howse saw a young
	British bugler fall wounded. Howse instantly galloped out under heavy fire to attend the wounded man.
	Howse's horse was killed and he was compelled, still under heavy fire, to carry the bugler back to safety
	For his bravery in action, Howse became the first Australian to be awarded the Victoria Cross.
	.
	Howse's subsequent career included service with the Australian Army Medical Corps (AAMC) at Gallipoli
	and in Europe during World War I. One senior commander wrote of his contribution on Gallipoli: Shells
	and bullets he completely disregarded. To the wounded he was gentleness itself. His capable hands eased
	many a patient.
	.
	In 1922 Howse entered Federal Parliament, where he served in a number of ministerial positions including
	Defence and Health. Sir Neville Howse died in London on 19 September 1930.

Plaques on east wall

Northernmost plaque
Image of Victoria Cross to left of text
_______________________________
The Victoria Cross
_______________________________

The Victoria Cross was inaugurated in 1856 in England by Queen Victoria. The new award was to give
proper recognition to officers and other ranks who had, in the words of the Queen's Royal Warrant:
Served Us in the presence of the enemy, and shall have performed some signal act of valour, or devotion
to their country.

The first VCs were received by British soldiers and sailors for acts of bravery performed during the
Crimean War of 1854-1856. The medals were cast from cannons captured from the Russians during that
conflict. Later, those serving in the British colonial forces, and eventually the armed services of the British
Dominions, were made eligible for the award of the Victoria Cross. The VC van be given posthumously.
Those who hold the award are entitled to have the letters 'VC' after their names.

The first Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross was Captain Neville Reginald Howse for an act of
gallantry performed at Vredefort, Orange Free State, South Africa, on 24 July 1900 during the Boer War.
Including Howse, 96 Australian servicemen have been awarded the Victoria Cross in the following conflicts:

. Boer War (1899-1902) - 6 VCs
. World War I (1914-1918) - 64 VCs
. North Russia (1919) - 2 VCs
. World War II (1939-1945) - 20 VCs
. Vietnam War (1962-1972) - 4 VCs

In Australia the VC is known as the 'Victoria Cross for Australia' and it is the nation's highest award for
gallantry in war. At a gathering in London in 1956 to honour all who have received the Victoria Cross,
Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, spoke these words of tribute: To all of us the Victoria Cross is a symbol
of the heights to which we can all rise at our country's need.

Southernmost plaque
_______________________________
Australian Victoria Cross Recipients
_______________________________

THE BOER WAR 1899-1902	DAVEY, Philip	O'MEARA, Martin	EDMONSON, John Hurst
	DUNSTAN, William	PEELER, Walter	EDWARDS, Sir Hughie
BELL, Frederick William	DWYER, John James	POPE, Charles	FRENCH, John Alexander
BISDEE, John Hutton	GABY, Alfred Edward	RUTHVEN, William	GORDON, James Heather
HOWSE, Neville Reginald	GORDON, Bernard Sidney	RYAN, Edward John Frances	GRATWICK, Percival Eric
MAYGAR, Leslie Cecil	GRIEVE, Robert Cuthbert	SADLIER, Clifford William King	GURNEY, Arthur Stanley
ROGERS, James	HALL, Arthur Charles	SHOUT, Alfred John	KELLIHER, Richard
WYLLY, Guy George Egerton	HAMILTON, John Patrick	STATTON, Percy Clyde	KENNA, Edward
	HOWELL, George Julian	STORKEY, Percy Valentine	KIBBY, William Henry
WORLD WAR I 1914-18	INGRAM, George Morby	SYMONS, William John	KINGSBURY, Bruce Steele
	INWOOD, Reginald Roy	THROSSELL, Hugo Vivian Hope	MACKEY, John Bernard
AXFORD, Thomas Leslie	JACKA, Albert	TOWNER, Edgar Thomas	MIDDLETON, Rawdon Hume
BEATHAM, Robert Mathew	JACKSON, John William Alexander	TUBB, Frederick Harold	NEWTON, William Ellis
BIRKS, Frederick	JEFFRIES, Clarence Smith	WARK, Blair Anderson	PARTRIDGE, Frank John
BLACKBURN, Arthur Seaforth	JENSEN, Jorgan Christian	WEATHERS, Lawrence Carthage	RATTEY, Reginald Roy
BORELLA, Albert Chalmers	JOYNT, William Donovan	WHITTLE, John Woods	STARCEVICH, Leslie Thomas
BROWN, Walter Ernest	KENNY, Thomas James Bede	WOODS, James Park
BUCKLEY, Alexander Henry	KEYSOR, Leonard Maurice		VIETNAM 1962-72
BUCKLEY, Maurice Vincent	LEAK, John	NORTH RUSSIA 1919
BUGDEN, Patrick Joseph	LOWERSON, Albert David		BADCOE, Peter John
BURTON, Alexander Stewart	M^cCARTHY, Lawrence Dominic	PEARSE, Samuel George	PAYNE, Keith
CARROLL, John	M^cDOUGALL, Stanley Robert	SULLIVAN, Arthur Percy	SIMPSON, Raymond Stewart
CARTWRIGHT, George	M^cGEE, Lewis		WHEATLEY, Kevin Arthur
CASTLETON, Claud Charles	M^cNAMARA, Frank Hubert	WORLD WAR II 1939-45
CHERRY, Percy Herbert	MACTIER, Robert
COOKE, Thomas	MAXWELL, Joseph	ANDERSON, Charles Groves Wright
CURREY, William Mathew	MOON, Rupert Vince	CHOWNE, Albert
DALZEIL, Henry	MURRAY, Henry William	CUTLER, Arthur Roden
DARTNELL, William Thomas	NEWLAND, James Ernest	DERRICK, Thomas Currie

Inlaid metal letters in pathway on both north and south sides of memorial
VICTORIA CROSS
PARK

Information current to July 2000

Biographical details of each VC winner are at The Australian & New Zealand Victoria Cross website http://members.ozemail.com.au/~vcweb/

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