A NEW ZEALAND V.C.

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 6, 8 January 1916, Page 13

A NEW ZEALAND V.C.

BRAVERY ON CHUNUK BAIR HOW GOBPORALBASSETTSABNED THE CROSS, i y {From Malcolm Ross, Official War Correspondent with the "N.Z. Forceß.) Gallipoli Peninsula, 28th October. For his splendid bravery and heroic devotion to duty during the attack' made by the New ZeaJanaers on Clramik Bair, Cpl. .C. R. G. Bassett, of Auckland., formerly a clerk in the National Bank of New Zealand, and now attached to No. 2 Signal Section of the New Zealand Infantry Brigade* has been .'awarded the Victoria Cross. It is the first Cross won by a New Zealander in this war; but tha New Zealanders are not apt to talk about their brave deeds, and are perhaps Tather modest in describing them. As the Brigadiers have said, where /all have done so well^ and where so many of heroism have been done, it ia almost, impossible to discriminate.

Cpl. Bassett's services, however, were undoubtedly worthy of tho highest honour with which they could be marked. Twice previously he had been specially mentioned for the excellent work he had done. He was with the original landing force on the 2Stb of April, and did good in those first days when tha expedition had to fight its way through the narrow valleys and up the steep hills, and maintain the position gained in the face of extreme difficulty In r.he attack on the 2nd and 3rd May on Russell's "op he again distinguished himself. Thai, was tho occasion on which the Otago Battalion went for-. ward and. lost so heavily. All night, under heavy fire,' Bassett was working in tlie endeavour to establish telephonic fioramunication with Pope's Ridge, so a.s to link up the battalion with Brigade Headquarters. His section officer mentioned him for the work he had done on that occasion also.

Tt ia only those who watched the despersoe fighting on Chunufc Bair, however,'who. can fully realise the , difficult iiaiure of the undertaking which he successfully accomplished there, and the cool courage and persistence that were necessary to carry it through in the face of great obstacles. He left Brigade Headquarters, and followed the ■ battalions attacking the position. In the early dawn, as the Wellington men reached, the crest of the ridge, he started to get his wire through up the steep *crub-covered, fire-swept slopes to tho topmosV, trenches. He succeeded. At & comparatively early hour in the day telephone communication had been established between Brigade Headquarters and the brave men who were then holding the heights against the stubborn enemy. . . .

But in a battle it is one thing to. establish communication : it is another thing to maintain it. ? While he was getting the line through one of the gallant fellows who was with him, Spr. C. G. Whittaker, also of Auckland, fell mortally wounded. He was paralysed by the shot, but Cpl. Bassett carried him out to a place of safety. The stretcher-bearers succeeded in getting the wounded man down the narrow valley to the dressing : station, and thence to the casualty clearing station. Finally, he was got on to one of the hospital ships. Ho died at sea. All that day the slopes were swept by shot and shell, and the line kept breaking, but Bassett went out again and again and mended the breaks. Ho did this in full daylight and under a continuous and heavy fire. Not only was this an act of extreme bravery, but it was ono also of the utmost service. He returned to Brigade Headquarters at dusk, but all that night while the battle raged the line kept breaking, and each time a break occurred young Bassett went out to repair it, and on each occasion he succeeded. ; On the Bth August Spr., B. Wignan, of the Signal Company, who was the telephone operator on Chunuk Bair, came back to headquarters with an important message, owing to the lines having again become severed by Turkish shelling. On bis way down he passed Cpl. Bassett under cover/ and he told him his line was broken. ■ Bassett went out and repaired one break. Then another break occurred, and he went out and repaired that Parts of the ground he had to cross were swept by very heavy fire, and he was under fire the whole time he \tas mending the second break. T.n view of his services, his conspicuous gallantry, and his fino example of fearlessness and devotion to duty, His Majesty the. King has been pleased to confer upon him the' award of the Victoria Cross.