- Title
- Dedication of the Neville Howse VC rest area
- Creator
- Ramsland, John
- Relation
- Digger Vol. 51, p. 38-42
- Publisher
- Families and Friends of the First AIF (FFFAIF)
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2015
- Description
- The dedication of the Neville Howse VC rest area at Ellenborough Falls is the first stage in the development of the proposed Wingham-Wauchope Remembrance Drive or Trail currently being carried forward by the War Veterans' Remembrance Drive Association (WVRDA), made up of Manning Valley residents and headed by its president, Darcy Elbourne of Taree. On a bright winter's day an attentive audience of about 200 people - the elderly and the young - including local public and private school student representatives, assembled. They witnessed and took part in the outdoor ceremony which was opened by John Clark OAM, the well-regarded and known Biripai Elder from Taree. Of the 100 VCs awarded to date to men in the Australian military forces. Howse's Victoria Cross has been the sole one awarded to a qualified medical officer and also the first occasion on which the VC was awarded to a member of the Australian (then the NSW) Military Forces. His courageous action in saving a soldier's life in the very heart of battle in the South African War in 1900 was an iconic event which resulted in a well-deserved Victoria Cross for gallantry. It made him a celebrity in Australia, a famous person for the rest of his life, particularly as the first person in the Australian Forces to be awarded such a military distinction.
- Subject
- VC award; Neville Howse; Sidney Berkley; South African War
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1321444
- Identifier
- uon:24364
- Identifier
- ISSN:1834-8963
- Language
- eng
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