WA Born VC Winners
Series
No. 2 in the series
of 9 caches plus a Bonus Box - K&C
039.
Collect all the clues
from each of the 9 caches to gain the CO's for the Bonus
Box.
The clues are located on the
back of the log books, and are in the format of A = * B = *
etc...
There are prizes for the 1st few cachers who complete the
series. Please only take one prize. Inside the
Bonus Box is 1 certificate for an event coin, gift vouchers,
an "Australia Remembers 1945 - 1995" coin/penny(donated by
AmstradKid) and other goodies..
Lieutnent Dominic
McCarthy VC
DOB: 21
January 1892
Place Of Birth: York, WA
Dominic McCarthy was born in York, Western
Australia. Having been orphaned at a young age, McCarthy listed no
next of kin on his attestation papers when he joined the Australian
Imperial Force in October 1914. He was brought up in Clontarf
Orphanage in Perth and educated in Catholic schools.Private
McCarthy was posted to the 16th Battalion where his large build
earned him the nickname "Fats".
The battalion landed at Gallipoli on 26
April 1915 and McCarthy remained on the peninsula until illness
forced his evacuation in September. By then he had been promoted to
sergeant. He returned to duty in November and was among the last in
his battalion to leave Gallipoli on 20 December.By June 1916 the
16th Battalion were in France where they took part in the fighting
at Pozières and Mouquet Farm in August. McCarthy was promoted to
company sergeant major in March 1917 and the following month was
commissioned as a second lieutenant. The day after receiving his
commission, McCarthy was wounded at Bullecourt and evacuated to
England where he spent three months in hospital and
convalescing.
In November he was promoted to lieutenant
and was awarded the French Croix de Guerre. He spent the months
between February and August 1918 training troops in England, before
rejoining his battalion in time for the offensive that began on 8
August.Just over two weeks later, on 23 August, McCarthy performed
what some regarded as the most effective piece of individual
fighting in the history of the AIF next to Albert Jacka's Military
Cross winning feat at Pozières. McCarthy, leading the 16th
Battalion's "D" Company, attained his objectives, but the battalion
on their left had been held up by German machine guns. He and a
sergeant attacked the machine-gun posts, capturing 460 metres of
German trench and forcing the surrender of between forty and fifty
Germans. McCarthy was unscathed, the sergeant wounded. For this
McCarthy was awarded the Victoria Cross that, within his battalion
and in some quarters of the London press, came to be known as the
"super-VC".
The Victoria
Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest award for acts of bravery
in wartime. It was instituted in 1856 by Queen Victoria and made
retrospective to 1854 to cover the period of the Crimean War. It is
possible for any serving member of the armed forces to obtain this
award. The Victoria Cross is designed in the form of the Maltese
Cross: in the centre of the medal is a lion guardant standing upon
the Royal Crown. The words "For valour" are inscribed below. The
Victoria Cross is suspended from a crimson ribbon. On the reverse
of the cross the date of the act of bravery is inscribed, along
with the name, rank, and unit of the recipient
Aknowledgments: Australian War
Memorial