Australian Victoria Cross Recipient
Trooper John Hutton Bisdee
Unit
1st Tasmanian Imperial Bushmen
Born
28 September 1869 at Hutton Park, Melton Mowbray, Tasmania
Date of action
1 September 1900
Place
Warm Bad, Transvaal
Details
Bisdee and other members of an advance scouting party were ambushed by Boers in a rocky defile. Six of the party of eight were hit including two officers, Major Brooke and Lieutenant Wylly (who was also awarded a VC). Brooke’s horse had bolted so Bisdee dismounted, put the officer on his own horse and, despite being seriously wounded, ran alongside, then mounted behind him and withdrew under heavy fire. For this he received the first Victoria Cross to be awarded to an Australian-born soldier in an Australian unit.
Died
14 January 1930
Buried or Commemorated
St James Churchyard, Jericho, Tasmania
Current location of the VC
Tasmanian Museum, Hobart