Australian Victoria Cross Recipient
Private William Matthew Currey
Unit
53rd Battalion
Born
19 September 1895, at Wallsend, New South Wales
Date of action
1 September 1918
Place
Mont St Quentin, Peronne, France
Details
During an attack, despite heavy machine-gun fire, Currey rushed forward and killed the whole crew and captured the weapon. Later, in the afternoon, the 53rd encountered intense fire from a strong point. Currey crept around the flank of the position and opened fire with a Lewis gun before rushing the post, inflicting many casualties and dispersing the survivors. His courageous action enabled the battalion attack to proceed. At 3 am next morning he volunteered to warn an isolated company to withdraw. Moving out into No Man’s Land he stood up and called out to the company. This brought a hail of enemy fire down upon him. His respirator was punctured and he was gassed, but he succeeded in contacting the exposed company which then returned safely.
Died
30 April 1948
Buried or Commemorated
Plaque at Woronora Cemetery, Sydney. His name is commemorated on plaques at the Garden of Remembrance, Rookwood Cemetery, and on the Leichhardt War Memorial. He is commemorated in the Jeffries-Currey Memorial Library, installed at the Dudley School in 1941 and by a memorial park at Abermain, New South Wales.
Current location of the VC
Australian War Memorial