Australian Victoria Cross Recipient
Lieutenant Albert Chalmers
Unit
26th Battalion
Born
7 August 1881 at Borung, Victoria
Date of action
17-18 July 1918
Place
Villers-Bretonneux, France
Details
While leading his platoon in an assault on an enemy support trench, he noticed a machine gun firing through the Australian barrage and ran out ahead of his men into the barrage, shot the gunners with his revolver and captured the gun. He then led a small party against the strongly held Jaffa trench, 200 metres beyond his actual objective. A sharp fight ensued and the surprised defenders were showered with bombs and Lewis gun fire with the result that thirty Germans emerged from two dug-outs and were taken prisoner. He was the oldest member of the first AIF to be decorated with a VC.
Died
7 February 1968
Buried or Commemorated
Presbyterian Cemetery North Albury, New South Wales. In 1977 a street in Albury was renamed Borella Road in his honour and a plaque unveiled on a memorial nearby, where the road begins.
Current location of the VC
Privately held