Informal portrait of Frank John Partridge VC (right), his wife Barbara and television quiz show ...

Informal portrait of Frank John Partridge VC (right), his wife Barbara and television quiz show host Bob Dyer, standing in front of a motor boat by the water. Born in Grafton, NSW, Partridge left school at 13 to work on the family farm near Macksville, NSW. While serving with the Volunteer Defence Corps he was called up for full-time army duty on 26 March 1943. He served with the 8th Battalion, a militia unit, in New Guinea and Bougainville. On 24 July 1945 Partridge was a member of a patrol ordered to destroy a Japanese post named Base 5, near Ratsua. The Australians came under heavy fire. Although wounded, Partridge rushed the nearest bunker with grenades and a knife, killing the Japanese soldiers before moving on to the next bunker. For his actions he was awarded the Victoria Cross, the last and youngest Australian honoured with this award during the Second World War. He was also the only member of the militia to be so honoured. Following the war Partridge returned to the family farm and combined work with self education, reading Encyclopedia Britannica by lamp light at night, and improving his retentive memory. From 1962 to 1963 he became a major winner on Pick-a-Box, a television quiz show compered by Bob Dyer. Frank Partridge was killed in a car accident near Bellingen, NSW, on 23 March 1964, aged 39. He was survived by his wife Barbara (nee Dunlop) whom he had married in 1963, and Lachlan their three month old son. (Frank Partridge's VC is held at the Australian War Memorial.)