Edmondson VC Rest Area
Wollogorang, NSW
Federal Highway (M23)
At a Glance
Victoria Cross Recipient
Corporal John Hurst Edmondson VC
2/17th Infantry Battalion
John Hurst 'Jack' Edmondson was born at Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, on 8 October 1914. He grew up on the family farm at Liverpool, on the outskirts of Sydney. On 20 May 1940 he enlisted in the 2/17th Infantry Battalion after earlier service with the 4th Militia Battalion, and was promoted to corporal. His battalion was posted to Tobruk with the 9th Division during the famous siege.
On the night of 13–14 April 1941, German forces broke through the Australian defences at Tobruk, armed with heavy machine guns and mortars. Edmondson joined a small party of five privates and his commanding officer, Lieutenant Austin Mackell, in a bayonet charge against the enemy to drive them back. During the fierce close-quarter fighting, Edmondson was seriously wounded in the neck and stomach but continued to fight. When a German soldier attacked Lieutenant Mackell from behind, the gravely wounded Edmondson came to his officer's aid, saving Mackell's life. Edmondson died of his wounds shortly after the party returned to the Australian lines.
Edmondson was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross in July 1941 — the first VC awarded to an Australian in the Second World War. He was twenty-six years old. A memorial at his birthplace in Wagga Wagga and the suburb of Edmondson Park in south-western Sydney are named in his honour.
Born 8 October 1914, Wagga Wagga, NSW. Died 14 April 1941, Tobruk, Libya.
References
Remembrance Driveway
Stop 12 of 20 along the Remembrance Driveway
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