Studio portrait of 1876 Corporal (Cpl) Alexander Henry Buckley, VC, 54th Battalion. A farmer ...

Accession Number H06648A
Collection type Photograph
Object type Black & white - Print silver gelatin
Conflict First World War, 1914-1918
Copyright

Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain

Public Domain Mark This item is in the Public Domain

Description

Studio portrait of 1876 Corporal (Cpl) Alexander Henry Buckley, VC, 54th Battalion. A farmer from Armatree, New South Wales, he enlisted on 3 February 1916 and embarked from Sydney aboard HMAT Barambah on 23 June 1916 for Plymouth, England. He joined his unit in France on 16 November 1916 and was promoted to Temporary Corporal (T/Cpl) on 1 November 1917. Cpl Buckley was killed in action at Peronne, France, on 1 September 1918. He was aged 27 years. As a result of his actions on that day he was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. The citation reads as follows "For most conspicuous bravery and self-sacrifice at Peronne during the operations on the 1st and 2nd September 1918. After passing the first objective his half company and part of the company on the flank were held up by a machine gun nest. With one man he rushed the post shooting four of the occupants and taking 22 prisoners. Later on, reaching a moat, it was found that another machine gun nest commanded the only available footbridge. Whilst this was being engaged from a flank Cpl Buckley endeavoured to cross the bridge and rush the post, but was killed in the attempt. Throughout the advance he had displayed great initiative, resource and courage, and by his efforts to save his comrades from casualties, he set a fine example of self-sacrificing devotion to duty."

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