text: edgar towner edgar thomas towner , vc , mc ( 19 april 1890 – 18 august 1972 ) 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 the british and commonwealth armed forces . a lieutenant in the australian imperial force during the first world war , towner was awarded the victoria cross in 1918 for his actions during an attack on mont st. quentin on the western front . born in queensland to a farming family , towner enlisted in the australian imperial force in 1915 . posted to the transport section of the 25th battalion , he served in egypt until his unit was sent to the western front . he then transferred to the 2nd machine gun battalion where he was commissioned as a lieutenant and twice mentioned in despatches for his leadership . during june 1918 , towner led a machine gun section in attack near morlancourt and assisted the infantry in reaching its objectives under heavy fire , for which he was awarded the military cross . in september , again commanding a machine gun section , he was involved in the allied counteroffensive that broke the german lines at mont st. quentin and péronne . fighting for thirty hours after being wounded , his " conspicuous bravery , initiative and devotion to duty " earned him the victoria cross , which was presented by king george v in april 1919 . discharged in august , towner returned to australia . he was appointed a director of the pastoral company , and briefly re - enlisted during the second world war , when he was promoted to major . a keen geographer , he was awarded the dr thomson foundation gold medal in 1956 for his geographical work . unmarried , he died in 1972 at the age of 82 . early life edgar towner was born on 19 april 1890 , at glencoe station near blackall , queensland , to edgar thomas towner , a grazing farmer , and his irish wife greta ( née ) . he was educated at blackall state school and in rockhampton , although he also received private instruction from his mother . after leaving school towner worked on his father 's grazing property until 1912 , when he acquired land of his own . he named the property " valparaiso " and worked on its development until the outbreak of the first world war . first world war on 4 january 1915 , towner enlisted in the australian imperial force . assigned to the transport section of the 25th battalion as a private , he embarked aboard hmat aeneas from brisbane on 29 june , bound for egypt . the troopship arrived in august , and the battalion spent the rest of the month training in the desert before transferring to the gallipoli peninsula . towner , however , remained in egypt with the army 's transportation elements . following the allied evacuation of gallipoli , the 25th battalion returned to egypt in december 1915 , where towner rejoined its ranks on 10 january 1916 . he was promoted to sergeant on 1 february , before departing with the battalion at alexandria the following month to join the british expeditionary force on the western front . disembarking at marseilles , the unit was the first australian battalion to arrive in france . in july 1916 , the 25th battalion took part in its first major western front action at the battle of pozières , part of the somme offensive . the battalion suffered 785 casualties between 25 july and 7 august . it was briefly transferred to a " quieter sector of the front in belgium " before returning to action on the somme in october . on 3 november , towner was transferred to the australian machine gun corps and was assigned to the 2nd machine gun battalion of the 2nd australian division , and was allotted to the 7th brigade 's machine gun company . he was commissioned as a second lieutenant fifteen days later , and assumed command of the battalion 's transport section . promoted to lieutenant on 24 february 1917 , towner 's service with his transport section earned him praise for his " devotion to duty and consistent good work " , and on 9 april he was mentioned in the despatches of field marshal sir douglas haig . towner was granted leave to the united kingdom in january 1918 . he received a second mention in despatches on 7 april 1918 , the notification of which was published in a supplement to the london gazette on 28 may . on the night of 10 / 11 june 1918 , towner was in command of a machine gun section during an attack to the south of morlancourt . one of the first to reach the objective , he deployed his section and got its guns into action " very quickly " . by using captured german machine guns he was able to increase his section 's fire and provide support to the company on his right as it advanced , seized , and consolidated its position . during the morning of 11 june , one of the posts held by the australian infantry was blown in by german artillery ; braving machine gun and sniper fire , towner went out in daylight to help reorganise the post . cited for his " cheerful and untiring attitude " and for " set [ ing ] a conspicuous example " , towner was awarded the military cross for his actions . the announcement of the award and accompanying citation was published in a supplement to the london gazette on 24 september 1918 . victoria cross on 1 september 1918 , towner was in command of no. 3 section of the 7th machine gun company during an attack on mont st. quentin , near péronne . armed with four vickers machine guns , the section was attached to the right flank of the 24th australian infantry battalion , whose principal objective was to seize the summit of mont st. quentin . to accomplish this , the battalion would have to advance through the village of before moving down to the péronne road . the australians began their advance at 06 : 00 behind an artillery screen , with towner 's section covering a front of 1 , 400 metres ( 1 , 500 yd ) . visibility was limited by rain , and australian casualties soon began to mount . locating a german machine gun that was causing heavy losses among the advancing troops , towner rushed the position and single - handedly killed the crew with his revolver . having captured the gun , he then turned it on the germans . once had fallen , the 24th battalion continued to the péronne road . however , the germans had occupied a copse of trees and put up strong resistance , halting the advance . german troops were observed massing for a counter - attack , so towner moved forward with several of his men , two vickers guns , and the captured german gun , and brought the assembling germans under concentrated fire , inflicting many casualties . attempting to retire , a party of twenty - five german soldiers were cut off by towner 's guns and taken prisoner . under heavy incoming fire , towner then scouted over open terrain to locate advantageous positions from which his guns could offer further support . when he moved his section forward , the machine gunners were able to engage more groups of german soldiers ; their aggressive action enabled the advance to be renewed , and the battalion attained the cover of a sunken section of the péronne road . however , on rejoining them towner found that his section was growing short of ammunition , so he made his way back across the fire - swept ground and located a german machine gun , which he brought forward along with several boxes of ammunition . this he brought into action " in full view of the enemy " ; his effective fire forced the germans to retire further , and allowed one of the stalled australian flanks to push ahead . german machine gunners had occupied a commanding vantage overlooking the sunken road , and began to rain down heavy fire around towner 's position . one of the bullets struck his helmet , inflicting a gaping wound to his scalp . refusing to be evacuated for medical treatment , towner continued firing his gun as the german pressure increased and the situation grew critical . eventually the australian infantry were forced to retire a short distance , but with all its crew having become casualties , one gun was left behind . alone , towner dashed out over no man 's land and retrieved the weapon . with this gun he " continued to engage the enemy whenever they appeared " , putting a german machine gun out of action with his accurate fire . throughout the night , towner frequented the front lines and " continued to fight and ... inspire his men " . he provided supporting fire for the 21st australian infantry battalion as they assaulted a heavily fortified crater on mont st. quentin 's summit , and repeatedly reconnoitred the german position to reported on troop movements . the next morning his section assisted in repulsing a large german counterattack before towner was finally evacuated with exhaustion — thirty hours after being wounded . initially admitted to the 41st casualty clearing station , he was transported by train to the 2nd red cross hospital at rouen . for his actions during the battle , towner was awarded the victoria cross — the third of six australians to receive the medal during the fighting around mont st. quentin and péronne . the full citation for towner 's victoria cross appeared in a supplement to the london gazette on 14 december 1918 , reading : war officer , 14th december , 1918 . his majesty the king has been graciously pleased to approve of the award of the victoria cross to the undermentioned officers , warrant officer , non - commissioned officers and men : — lt. edgar thomas towner , m.c. , 2nd bn . , aus . m.g. corps . for most conspicuous bravery , initiative and devotion to duty on 1st september , 1918 , in the attack on mont st. quentin , near peronne , when in charge of four vickers guns . during the early stages of the advance he located and captured , single - handed , an enemy machine - gun which was causing casualties , and by turning it on the enemy inflicted severe losses . subsequently , by the skilful , tactical handling of his guns , he cut off and captured twenty - five of the enemy . later , by fearless reconnaissance under heavy fire , and by the energy , foresight and promptitude with which he brought fire to bear on various enemy groups , he gave valuable support to the infantry advance . again , when short of ammunition , he secured an enemy machine - gun , which he mounted and fired in full view of the enemy , causing the enemy to retire further , and enabling our infantry to advance . under intense fire , although wounded , he maintained the fire of this gun at a very critical period . during the following night he steadied and gave valuable support to a small detached post , and by his coolness and cheerfulness the men in a great degree . throughout the night he kept close watch by personal reconnaissance on the enemy movements , and was evacuated exhausted thirty hours after being wounded . the valour and resourcefulness of lt. towner undoubtedly saved a very critical situation , and contributed largely to the success of the attack . later war service following his recuperation , towner was granted three weeks leave to england from 14 september 1918 . he rejoined his unit on 12 october and , for six days , was attached to the school of instruction . following thirteen days leave in france during late november , he returned again to the 2nd machine gun battalion on 12 december . on 10 april 1919 , towner attended an investiture ceremony in the ballroom of buckingham palace , during which he was decorated with his victoria cross and military cross by king george v. three weeks later he boarded ht , bound for australia . disembarking at sydney on 14 june 1919 he made his way to brisbane , and was discharged from the australian imperial force on 16 august 1919 . later life towner resettled on his property , but was forced to sell valparaiso in 1922 after he was unable to raise sufficient funds to purchase livestock . he spent the next three years working as a jackaroo , until he entered into a partnership on station , a property located near longreach , in 1925 . towner eventually bought out his partner and assumed another partnership with the pastoral company , . he was later appointed a director of the company . with the second world war looming , towner enlisted in the citizens military force on 8 august 1939 and was appointed a captain to the 26th battalion . after a period as a company commander he was promoted to temporary major and second - in - command of the battalion , under fellow victoria cross recipient lieutenant colonel harry murray . however , towner retired from the army due to ill health on 21 february 1942 , and returned to his property at . a keen geographer , towner would often disappear into the bush for weeks on end , for study or exploration . as a fellow of the royal geographical society of australia and member of the royal historical society of new south wales , he took a particular interest in researching the life of the explorer sir thomas mitchell . in 1946 , he successfully lobbied the australian government to issue a postage stamp commemorating the centenary of mitchell 's discoveries in central queensland . he addressed the royal geographical society of australasia in brisbane in 1955 , and was awarded the dr thomson foundation gold medal for his geographical work the following year . towner 's address was published in 1957 , in a booklet entitled lake eyre and its tributaries . towner never married , and on 18 august 1972 died at longreach base hospital at the age of 82 . his funeral took place three days later , with a large number of longreach citizens lining the streets to see his coffin pass by atop a gun carriage . following a service at st andrew 's church , he was buried with full military honours at the longreach town cemetery . by the time of his death , towner had amassed an 80 , 000 - acre ( 320 km2 ) farm containing 25 , 000 sheep . he remains the highest - decorated serviceman from queensland . on 24 april 2009 , a statue of towner crafted by melbourne sculptor william was unveiled in his birth town of blackall . inspired by an essay written by a local schoolboy , the community raised a $ 80 , 000 to commission a monument in towner 's memory .