Australian Victoria Cross Recipient
Corporal John Hurst Edmondson
Unit
2/17th Battalion
Born
8 October 1914 at Wagga Wagga, New South Wales
Date of action
13 April 1941
Place
Tobruk, Libya
Details
During an enemy attack platoon commander F.A.Mackell decided to dislodge the Germans with a bayonet charge and he and Edmondson and five privates attacked. During this counter-attack Edmondson was wounded in the neck and stomach, but he advanced and killed one enemy with his bayonet. Later Mackell was bayoneting a German who held on to him as another came up from behind. Edmondson, some metres away, immediately came to his assistance and in spite of his wounds killed both enemy. The party then returned to Post R33 with a prisoner. Edmondson, badly wounded, died next morning.
Died
14 April 1941
Buried or Commemorated
Tobruk War Cemetery. Edmondson’s name is commemorated by a clock which stands in the main business section of Liverpool, New South Wales.
Current location of the VC
Australian War Memorial