Arthur Stanley Gurney
Private, 2/48th Battalion (Southern Australian) Australian Military Forces
- Register No.
- 503 (Alf's numbering, from The Register of the Victoria Cross, 1997)
- Rank
- Private all Privates →
- Unit
- 2/48th Battalion (Southern Australian) Australian Military Forces (register: 2/48th Battalion, AIF) all 2/48th Battalion, AIF VCs →
- Date of action
- 22 July 1942 on this day → all of 1942 →
- Conflict / campaign
- Second World War
- London Gazette
- 14th September 1942 on this day → all of 1942 →
- Born
- 15th December 1908 at Day Dawn, in the Murchison Goldfields,
- Died
- 22nd July 1942 at Tel-el-Eisa in Egypt. (Killed in Action)
- Award
- Posthumous all posthumous VCs →
- Memorial / grave
- on Grave 21, Row H, Plot XVI, in El Alamein War Cemetery and also on the Australian War Memorial in Canberra
- Medal held by
- the Australian War Memorial, Canberra,
Digest of citation
On 22 July 1942 at Tel-el-Eisa, Egypt, the company to which Private Gurney belonged was held up by intense machine-gun fire, heavy casualties being suffered, including all the officers,. Private Gurney, realizing the seriousness of the situation, charged the nearest machine-gun post, silencing the guns and bayoneting three of the crew. He bayoneted two more at a second post, and was then knocked down by a grenade, but picked himself up and charged a third post. Nothing more was seen of him until later, when his body was found by his comrades, whose advance he had made possible
From Alf Askin's research notes
Reproduced as Alf wrote it, c. 2000–2005. Spelling and abbreviations are his own.
GURNEY, Arthur Stanley (Reg. No.503)
Private 2/48th Battalion (Southern Australian) Australian Military Forces.
London Gazetted on 14th September 1942.
VC Medal's Custodian is the Australian War Memorial, Canberra, Australia.
Born on 15th December 1908 at Day Dawn, in the Murchison Goldfields, Western Australia.
Died on 22nd July 1942 at Tel-el-Eisa in Egypt. (Killed in Action)
Memorials are on Grave 21, Row H, Plot XVI, in El Alamein War Cemetery and also on the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
Digest of Citation reads: On 22 July 1942 at Tel-el-Eisa, Egypt, the company to which Private Gurney belonged was held up by intense machine-gun fire, heavy casualties being suffered, including all the officers,. Private Gurney, realizing the seriousness of the situation, charged the nearest machine-gun post, silencing the guns and bayoneting three of the crew. He bayoneted two more at a second post, and was then knocked down by a grenade, but picked himself up and charged a third post. Nothing more was seen of him until later, when his body was found by his comrades, whose advance he had made possible.
Australia.
Western Australia.
Visit the grave or memorial
Alf recorded the memorial as: on Grave 21, Row H, Plot XVI, in El Alamein War Cemetery and also on the Australian War Memorial in Canberra
Map links open a search for the place name Alf recorded; please check opening times and exact locations before travelling. Many VC graves have since been restored by the Victoria Cross Trust.
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