Frank Partridge (VC)

Last updated

Frank John Partridge

Frank Partridge (AWM 131225A).jpg

Private Frank John Partridge, VC
Born(1924-11-29)29 November 1924
Grafton, New South Wales
Died 23 March 1964(1964-03-23) (aged 39)
Macksville, New South Wales
Allegiance Australia
Service/branch Australian Army
Years of service 1942–46
Rank Private
Battles/wars
Awards Victoria Cross
Other work
  • Farmer
  • Quiz show champion

Frank John Partridge, VC (29 November 1924 –23 March 1964) was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest decoration for gallantry "in the face of the enemy" awarded to members of the British and Commonwealth armed forces. He was decorated for his actions on Bougainville in July 1945, when he attacked two Japanese bunkers despite severe wounds. Partridge was the last and, at 20 years of age, the youngest Australian awarded the Victoria Cross in World War II. He later became a farmer and a television quiz champion, and unsuccessfully ran for political office shortly before his death in a car accident.

Victoria Cross highest military decoration awarded for valour in armed forces of various Commonwealth countries

The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for gallantry "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces. It may be awarded posthumously. It was previously awarded to Commonwealth countries, most of which have established their own honours systems and no longer recommend British honours. It may be awarded to a person of any military rank in any service and to civilians under military command although no civilian has received the award since 1879. Since the first awards were presented by Queen Victoria in 1857, two-thirds of all awards have been personally presented by the British monarch. These investitures are usually held at Buckingham Palace.

Commonwealth of Nations Intergovernmental organisation

The Commonwealth of Nations, normally known as the Commonwealth, is a unique political association of 53 member states, nearly all of them former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Commonwealth Secretariat, which focuses on intergovernmental aspects, and the Commonwealth Foundation, which focuses on non-governmental relations between member states.

Bougainville Campaign allied reconquest of the island of Bougainville in the South Pacific from the Japanese forces who occupied it in 1942

The Bougainville Campaign was a series of land and naval battles of the Pacific campaign of World War II between Allied forces and the Empire of Japan. It was part of Operation Cartwheel, the Allied grand strategy in the South Pacific. The campaign took place in the Northern Solomons in two phases. The first phase, in which American troops landed and held the perimeter around the beachhead at Torokina, lasted from November 1943 through November 1944. The second phase, in which primarily Australian troops went on the offensive, mopping up pockets of starving, isolated but still-determined Japanese, lasted from November 1944 until August 1945, when the last Japanese soldiers on the island surrendered. Operations during the final phase of the campaign saw the Australian forces advance north towards the Bonis Peninsula and south towards the main Japanese stronghold around Buin, although the war ended before these two enclaves were completely destroyed.

Contents

Early life

Frank John Partridge was born at Grafton, New South Wales, on 29 November 1924, to farmer Patrick James Partridge and his English-born wife Mary (née Saggs). The youth was educated at Tewinga Public School until he left at 13 to work on the family's dairy and banana farm at Upper Newee Creek, near Macksville. [1] [2]

Grafton, New South Wales City in New South Wales, Australia

Grafton is a city in the Northern Rivers region of the Australian state of New South Wales. It is located on the Clarence River, approximately 500 kilometres (310 mi) north-northeast of the state capital Sydney. The closest major cities, Brisbane and the Gold Coast, are located across the border in South-East Queensland. According to the 2016 census, the Grafton "significant urban area" had a population of 18,668 people. The city is the largest settlement and administrative centre of the Clarence Valley Council local government area, which has over 50,000 people in all.

Macksville, New South Wales Town in New South Wales, Australia

Macksville is a small town on the Nambucca River in Nambucca Shire, New South Wales, Australia. It is halfway between Sydney and Brisbane, along the Pacific Highway, approximately 40 minutes north of Kempsey, 40 minutes south of Coffs Harbour, 1 hour 10 minutes north of Port Macquarie, 5 hours south of Brisbane and 5 hours north of Sydney.

World War II

In December 1942, during World War II, Partridge was conscripted by the Australian Army. He served as a private in the 8th Battalion, a Militia unit formed in Victoria. In May 1944, the 8th Battalion was posted to New Guinea. [2]

Conscription Compulsory enlistment into national or military service

Conscription, sometimes called the draft, is the compulsory enlistment of people in a national service, most often a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names. The modern system of near-universal national conscription for young men dates to the French Revolution in the 1790s, where it became the basis of a very large and powerful military. Most European nations later copied the system in peacetime, so that men at a certain age would serve 1–8 years on active duty and then transfer to the reserve force.

A private is a soldier of the lowest military rank.

8th Battalion (Australia)

The 8th Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army. Initially raised in 1914 for the First Australian Imperial Force during the First World War the battalion was completely recruited from Victoria and formed part of the 2nd Brigade, 1st Division. During the war it fought at Gallipoli and in France and Belgium on the Western Front. It was disbanded in 1919, before being re-raised as a Militia battalion in 1921. During the Second World War the 8th Battalion was used primarily as a garrison unit before taking part in the Bougainville campaign late in the war. It was disbanded again in 1946 during the demobilisation process, although it was reformed again in 1948 when it was amalgamated with the 7th Battalion. Today, its honours and traditions are perpetuated by the 8th/7th Battalion, Royal Victoria Regiment.

In June 1945, the 8th Battalion was transferred to the Bougainville campaign, where it operated to contain Japanese forces on the Bonis Peninsula. [2] It was here that Partridge performed a deed for which he received the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award for gallantry that could be awarded to British Commonwealth forces. [3] [4]

Empire of Japan Empire in the Asia-Pacific region between 1868–1947

The Empire of Japan was the historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 to the enactment of the 1947 constitution of modern Japan.

On 24 July, in one of the last actions of the campaign on Bougainville, two platoons of the 8th Battalion attacked a Japanese post, Base 5, near Ratsua. Partridge's section came under heavy machine-gun fire and suffered severe casualties, including a Bren gunner who was killed. Although wounded in the arm and leg, Partridge retrieved the Bren gun and began shooting at the nearest bunker while under fire himself. He then rushed forward armed with a grenade and a knife, silenced the Japanese machine-gun with his grenade, and killed the only living occupant of the bunker with his knife. Partridge attacked the second until loss of blood compelled him to halt. Later he re-joined the fight and remained in action while the platoon withdrew. [1] [2]

Battle of Ratsua

The Battle of Ratsua occurred during the Second World War and involved Australian and Japanese forces. Part of the wider Bougainville Campaign of the Pacific theatre, the battle took place in the northern sector of Bougainville between June and August 1945. The main forces that took part in the fighting were the Australian 23rd Brigade and the Japanese 87th Naval Garrison Force.

Section (military unit) military unit size

A section is a military sub-subunit. It usually consists of between six and 20 personnel and is usually an alternative name for, and equivalent to, a squad. As such two or more sections usually make up an army platoon or an air force flight.

Partridge was the last and the youngest Australian to be awarded the Victoria Cross in World War II. [1] He was also the first Australian Militiaman to receive the award. [5]

Later life

Partridge (1st left) meets King George VI at Victory Parade, June 1946 KIng George IV & Austn VC winners.jpg
Partridge (1st left) meets King George VI at Victory Parade, June 1946
Partridge's grave marker PARTRIDGE VC GRAVE.JPG
Partridge's grave marker

Discharged from the army in October 1946, Partridge returned to the family farm. He lived with his father in a dirt-floored farmhouse, and in his spare time devoted himself to self-education, reading Encyclopædia Britannica by the light of a kerosene lamp. He had an extraordinarily retentive memory and in 1962–63 he appeared as a contestant on the television quiz show, Pick a Box , compered by Bob Dyer, alongside contestants such as Barry Jones. His laconic manner appealed strongly to viewers. Partridge was one of only three contestants to win all forty boxes and his prizes were valued at more than £12,000 (in excess of A$250,000 in present-day terms). [1]

He married Barbara Dunlop, a 31-year-old nurse from Turramurra in Sydney, in February 1963. The wedding received extensive media coverage. She remained in Sydney while Partridge built a new house at the farm. He drove to Sydney every weekend to see her. Later in 1963, Partridge sought Country Party pre-selection for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Cowper. His political views were widely regarded as extreme, and he was not selected. To supplement the income from his farm, Partridge also sold life insurance. [1]

Partridge was killed in a car accident in 1964, and was buried with full military honours in Macksville Cemetery. His wife and three-month-old son survived him. [1]

In 1989 a primary school at Nambucca Heads was named the Frank Partridge VC Public School. [6] [7]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Partridge, Frank John (1924–1964)". Australian Dictionary of Biography . Australian National University . Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Private Frank John Partridge". People profiles. Australian War Memorial . Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  3. ↑ "Partridge, Frank John". It's an Honour. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  4. ↑ "No. 37439". The London Gazette (Supplement). 22 January 1946. p. 571.
  5. ↑ Wigmore, The Dared Mightily, pp. 267–269
  6. ↑ "Frank Partridge VC Public School". New South Wales Government . Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  7. ↑ Frank Partridge VC Public School: School Plan 2010–2011 (PDF) (Report). New South Wales Government. Retrieved 16 October 2014.

Related Research Articles

Edward Kenna Australian Victoria Cross recipient

Edward "Ted" Kenna, VC was the last living Australian Second World War recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest decoration for gallantry "in the face of the enemy" that can be awarded to members of the British and Commonwealth armed forces.

Peter Badcoe Australian Victoria Cross recipient

Peter John Badcoe, VC was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry "in the face of the enemy" that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Keith Payne, is an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest decoration for gallantry "in the presence of the enemy" awarded to members of the British and Commonwealth armed forces. Payne's VC was awarded for his actions during the Vietnam War. Aged 85, he is the last living Australian recipient of the original "Imperial" Victoria Cross.

Ray Simpson (soldier) Recipient of the Victoria Cross

Rayene Stewart "Ray" Simpson, was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry "in the face of the enemy" that can be awarded to members of the British and Commonwealth armed forces. Simpson received his award for actions in Kon Tum Province, South Vietnam on 6 May 1969.

James Rogers (Australian soldier) Recipient of the Victoria Cross

James Rogers, VC was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Rogers received his award for his actions at Thaba 'Nchu in Orange Free State on 15 June 1901 while serving in the South African Constabulary during the Second Boer War.

Samuel Pearse Recipient of the Victoria Cross

Samuel George Pearse, VC, MM was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Serving in the Australian Imperial Force during the First World War, he saw action during the final weeks of the Gallipoli Campaign in 1915 and later on the Western Front from 1916 to 1918. Following the Armistice he fought as part of the North Russia Relief Force with the British Army during the North Russia Campaign in 1919. He was killed after charging a machine gun post during an action at Emtsa, in North Russia, for which he was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.

Lawrence Weathers Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross

Lawrence Carthage Weathers, was a New Zealand-born Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in battle that can be awarded to a member of the Australian armed forces. His parents returned to their native South Australia when Weathers was seven, and he completed his schooling before obtaining work as an undertaker in Adelaide. He enlisted as a private in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) in early 1916, and joined the 43rd Battalion. His unit deployed to the Western Front in France and Belgium in late December. After a bout of illness, Weathers returned to his battalion in time to take part in the Battle of Messines in June 1917, during which he was wounded. Evacuated to the United Kingdom, he rejoined his unit in early December.

Fazal Din Recipient of the Victoria Cross

Fazal Din VC was an Indian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Walter Peeler Australian Victoria Cross recipient

Walter "Wally" Peeler, VC, BEM was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry "in the face of the enemy" that can be awarded to members of the British and Commonwealth armed forces. He was decorated following his actions during the Battle of Broodseinde in October 1917. Then a lance corporal in the Australian Imperial Force, he repeatedly took the lead in the 37th Battalion's advance on well-defended German positions, destroying four machine gun posts and killing more than 30 German soldiers during the battle.

Tom Starcevich (1918–1989) Australian soldier

Leslie Thomas "Tom" Starcevich, VC was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest decoration for gallantry "in the face of the enemy" that can be awarded to members of British and Commonwealth armed forces. He received the award as member of the 2/43rd Battalion, during the Borneo campaign of the Second World War.

Jack Mackey Recipient of the Victoria Cross

John Bernard "Jack" Mackey, VC was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British Commonwealth forces. Mackey was one of twenty Australians to receive the award for actions during the Second World War, receiving his award posthumously for leading an attack on against a strongly defended Japanese position during the Battle of Tarakan in May 1945. He was 22 and serving as a corporal in the 2/3rd Pioneer Battalion at the time of his death.

Phillip Davey Recipient of the Victoria Cross

Phillip Davey, was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in battle that can be awarded to a member of the Australian armed forces. Davey enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in December 1914, and joined his unit, the 10th Battalion, on the island of Lemnos on 10 April 1915. Along with his battalion, he landed at Anzac Cove, Gallipoli, on 25 April. He fought at Anzac until he was evacuated sick in early November, returning to Australia the following January.

Roy Inwood Australian Victoria Cross recipient

Reginald Roy Inwood, VC was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in battle that can be awarded to a member of the Australian armed forces. Inwood enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in August 1914, and along with the rest of the 10th Battalion, he landed at Anzac Cove, Gallipoli on 25 April 1915. He fought at Anzac until being evacuated sick to Egypt in September. He remained there until he rejoined his unit on the Western Front in June 1916. In August, he fought in the Battle of Mouquet Farm.

Alby Lowerson Recipient of the Victoria Cross

Albert David "Alby" Lowerson, VC was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Dominic McCarthy Recipient of the Victoria Cross

Lawrence Dominic McCarthy, VC was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Claud Castleton Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross

Claud Charles Castleton, VC was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Robert MacTier Recipient of the Victoria Cross

Robert "Bob" Mactier, VC was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He was one of 64 Australians to receive the award for their actions during the First World War, receiving it as a result of deeds performed during the Battle of Mont St Quentin on 1 September 1918. That day, Mactier was a battalion runner serving with the 23rd Battalion, Australian Imperial Force. He was sent forward by an officer to determine the cause of a delay in the battalion moving into its jumping off position. The cause was a well placed enemy machine gun. On his own initiative, Mactier jumped out of the trench and charged the gun, killing its crew of six. He then charged two other machine guns, killing more crews and causing at least 40 enemy to surrender. He was killed by fire from a fourth machine gun, but not before enabling his battalion to form up on time.

Bede Kenny Recipient of the Victoria Cross

Thomas James Bede Kenny, VC was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Henry Dalziel Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross

Henry Dalziel, VC was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He was awarded the VC while serving with the Australian Imperial Force during the First World War. Dalziel's VC was the 1,000th awarded. After the war, Dalziel returned to Australia and tried to make a living by farming. Troubled by the injuries he sustained during the war, he left the land and took up factory work. He moved between jobs several times during the 1930s, and led something of a transient lifestyle, even at one stage turning to gold prospecting. In the mid-1930s he rejoined the army in a part-time capacity and during the Second World War served in a training role in Australia. He died in 1965 at the age of 72.

Reg Rattey Recipient of the Victoria Cross

Reginald Roy Rattey, VC was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry "in the face of the enemy" that can be awarded to members of the British or Commonwealth armed forces. He was one of 20 Australians to receive the award for their actions during the Second World War, doing so while serving with the 25th Battalion during the Bougainville Campaign in 1945. After the war, Rattey ran a farm near West Wyalong, New South Wales. He died in 1986 at the age of 67.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.