Kingsbury VC Rest Area
Penrose, NSW
Hume Highway (A31)
At a Glance
Victoria Cross Recipient
Private Bruce Steel Kingsbury VC
2/14th Australian Infantry Battalion
Bruce Steel Kingsbury was born in the Melbourne suburb of Preston on 8 January 1918. He was educated at Windsor State School and, on a scholarship, at Melbourne Technical College. He enlisted in the Second Australian Imperial Force and was posted to the 2/14th Infantry Battalion, serving in the Middle East before returning to Australia for deployment to New Guinea.
On 29 August 1942, at Isurava on the Kokoda Track in Papua, the 2/14th Battalion had been holding its position for two days against continuous and fierce Japanese attacks. The enemy attacked in such force that they broke through the battalion's right flank, creating a serious threat to the rest of the unit and its headquarters. Kingsbury immediately volunteered to join a platoon ordered to counter-attack. Rushing forward and firing his Bren gun from the hip through the dense jungle, he cleared a path through the enemy and inflicted heavy casualties, turning the tide of the battle. He was then shot and killed instantly by a Japanese sniper.
Kingsbury was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. He was the first Australian soldier to receive the VC for action in the South-West Pacific and the first to earn it on Australian-mandated territory. His sacrifice at Isurava is commemorated by the Isurava Memorial on the Kokoda Track. He was twenty-four years old.
Born 8 January 1918, Preston, VIC. Died 29 August 1942, Isurava, Papua.
References
Remembrance Driveway
Stop 7 of 20 along the Remembrance Driveway
View all 20 stops
- Sir Roden Cutler VC Rest Area
- Partridge VC Rest Area Southbound
- Kenna VC Rest Area
- Keith Payne VC Rest Area
- Gordon VC Rest Area
- Mackey VC Rest Area
- Kingsbury VC Rest Area
- Chowne VC Rest Area
- Derrick VC Rest Area
- French VC Rest Area
- Kibby VC Rest Area
- Edmondson VC Rest Area
- Gratwick VC Rest Area
- Gurney VC Rest Area
- Badcoe VC Rest Area
- Wheatley VC Rest Area
- Anderson VC Rest Area
- Middleton VC Rest Area
- Newton VC Rest Area
- Edwards VC Rest Area
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