For ninety four years the story of Gallipoli has galvanised Australians to remember, on ANZAC Day, those that have served, and continue to serve, in conflicts around the globe. The description by poet John Masefield in 1917 of the landing on Gallipoli creates an indelible backdrop to the fighting:

Those who wish to imagine the scene must think of any rough and steep coast known to them, picturing it as roadless, waterless, much broken with gullies, covered with scrub, sandy, loose, difficult to walk upon, and without more than two miles of accessible landing throughout its length…Then let them imagine the hills entrenched, the landing mined, the beaches tangled with barbed wire, ranged by Howitzers, and swept by machine guns…

(See rare movie footage of Anzac and Suvla here) 

read on

In a ceremony this morning, Trooper Mark Donaldson VC loaned his newly awarded medal to the Australian War Memorial for public display.  Trooper Donaldson, who on Friday became the first Australian serviceman in almost 40 years to be awarded the famous medal, is also the first to receive it under the title of ‘The Victoria Cross for Australia’, as part of the Australian system of honours and awards.   His is the first VC ever awarded to a member of the Australian Army’s elite Special Air Service Regiment.  Memorial Director Steve Gower said at the presentation that “loaning his Victoria Cross to the Australian War Memorial so soon after its presentation is an incredibly generous offer and we are delighted to place it on public exhibition.”

The award of the Victoria Cross was made following Trooper Donaldson’s heroic actions when his patrol was ambushed in Oruzgan Province, Afghanistan, on 2 September last year.  The citation for the medal reads, in part: “In the early stages of the ambush, Trooper Donaldson reacted spontaneously to regain the initiative.  He moved rapidly between alternate positions of cover engaging the enemy with 66mm and 84mm anti-armour weapons as well as his M4 rifle.  During an early stage of the enemy ambush, he deliberately exposed himself to enemy fire in order to draw attention to himself and thus away from wounded soldiers.  This selfless act alone bought enough time for those wounded to be moved to relative safety.”  As the ambushed vehicles manoeuvred to withdraw, with the unwounded members of the patrol running alongside, a severely wounded Afghani interpreter was accidentally left behind.  The citation continues: “Of his own volition and displaying complete disregard for his own safety, Trooper Donaldson moved alone, on foot, across approximately 80 metres of exposed ground to recover the wounded interpreter.  His movement, once identified by the enemy, drew intense and accurate machine gun fire from entrenched positions.  Upon reaching the wounded coalition force interpreter, Trooper Donaldson picked him up and carried him back to the relative safety of the vehicles then provided immediate first aid before returning to the fight.”  The patrol was ultimately able to disengage from the action and withdraw with its wounded, all of whom survived.  As the citiation concludes: “Trooper Donaldson’s actions on this day displayed exceptional courage in circumstances of great peril.  His actions are of the highest accord and are in keeping with the finest traditions of the Special Operations Command, the Australian Army and the Australian Defence Force.”

It is anticipated that Trooper Donaldson’s medals will be placed on public display in the Australian War Memorial’s Conflicts 1945 to today galleries by the end of February.

• Read more about the Victoria Cross
• Hall of Valour
• Victoria Crosses at the Australian War Memorial
• Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s remarks at the presentation of
  the Victoria Cross for Australia to Trooper Mark Donaldson

The Victoria Cross was instituted by Queen Victoria’s Royal warrant in 1856, and the first examples were presented by her in June 1857.  These first 62 awards were retrospective, for gallant actions by sailors and soldiers during the Crimean War of 1854-56.  Throughout its life, the Cross has been manufactured by Hancocks and Co, Jewellers of London.  Famously, they are made using bronze taken from guns captured from the Russians in the Crimea.  These guns appear to originally be of Chinese origin, and had previously been captured by Russian forces.  To date, 1,357 Victoria Crosses have been awarded, the most recent being to Private Johnson Beharry, of the 1st Battalion, Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment (2005).

The Victoria Cross for Australia replaces the Victoria Cross in the Australian Honours and Awards system.  It was instituted in 1991, and the first award was made on 16 February 2009, to Trooper Mark Donaldson, Special Air Service Regiment, for gallantry in Oruzgan Province, Afghanistan, on 2 September 2008.  The reason for the change to the historic medal was to allow Australians to remain eligible for what is widely considered to be the world’s most prestigious gallantry award.  Since the VC, a British imperial medal, was not compatible with the new Australian system of honours and awards, Queen Elizabeth II agreed to a new award; ‘The Victoria Cross for Australia’.  The medal itself is completely unchanged, and is in fact a Victoria Cross in everything but name.  It is still manufactured by Hancocks, and each award is individually approved by Her Majesty the Queen. Under a similar system, the Victoria Cross of Canada was created in 1993 and the Victoria Cross for New Zealand in 1999.  The only other example of these Commonwealth awards so far was made to Corporal Willie Apiata, of the New Zealand SAS, in July 2007.  This award was also for gallantry in Afghanistan, in 2004.

It should be noted that the recent awards of the Victoria Cross to Australia and the Victoria Cross to New Zealand are NOT considered by the British Government to be awards of the Victoria Cross.  They are awards unique to the countries concerned. Australians, however, will consider Trooper Donaldson’s award to be the latest in a long line which stretches back to Captain (later Sir) Neville Howse in South Africa in 1900. This means that 97 Australians have now been awarded the Victoria Cross.