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| Page revised: 14 January, 2008 |
Corporal Cyril Royston Guyton BASSETT VC |
| Born: | Mount Eden, Auckland, New Zealand - 3 January 1892 | 
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| Died: | Stanley Point, New Zealand - 9 January 1983 | ||
| Burial details: | North Shore Crematorium, Albany, New Zealand | ||
| Corps service: | He enlisted in August 1914 and by October 1914 had embarked for Egypt with a Divisional Signals unit of the Royal New Zealand Engineers. After recovering from wounds sustained in Gallopili he joined his unit in France in June 1916. He was commissioned in 1917 and on returning to New Zealand at the end of the war he resumed his civilian career in a bank. He rejoined the army for the Second World war and retired as Colonel CRG Bassett VC. | ||
| VC awarded: | Chunuk Bair ridge, Gallipoli on 7 August 1915 (First World War 1914-18). | ||
| VC unit: | New Zealand Divisional Signal Company | ||
| VC presented: | VC presented by King George V at Buckingham Palace on 3 February 1916 | ||
| VC citation: | For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty on the Chunuk Bair ridge in the Gallipoli Peninsula on 7 August 1915. After the New Zealand Infantry Brigade had attacked and established itself on the ridge, Corporal Bassett, in full daylight and under a continuous fire, succeeded in laying a telephone line from the old position to the new one on Chunuk Bair. He has subsequently been brought to notice for further excellent and most gallant work connected with the repair of telephone lines by day and night under heavy fire. (London Gazette: 15 October 1915) |
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| VC location: | Privately held | ||
| Background: | The landings at Gallipoli in Aril 1915 were part of the larger campaign to drive Turkey out of the war. Bassett won his VC for the part he played in the assault on the Turkish positions on Chunuk Bair ridge. He was a corporal in charge of the section of signallers with a brigade size column. | ||
| Source:
Additional material: SC Fenwick, FoREM Links to further reading:
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