Australian Victoria Cross Recipient
Lieutenant Charles Pope
Unit
11th Battalion
Born
5 March 1883 at Mile End, London
Date of action
15 April 1917
Place
Louverval, France
Details
Pope commanded one of three posts well forward on a protruding spur in the centre of the Australian line. The post he and his men occupied was considered crucial and his orders were to hold it at all costs. During an attack, Pope’s post was quickly surrounded by a much larger German force. Pope sent a runner back to get more ammunition but the resupplying force was blocked. When all hope was gone Pope still ordered his men to hang on. Pope and his men were killed in front of their post, in close proximity to eighty German dead.
Died
15 April 1917
Buried or Commemorated
Moeuvres Communal Cemetery Extension, France
Current location of the VC
Australian War Memorial