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Maurice Vincent Buckley VC, DCM (aka Gerald SEXTON) |
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Sergeant Maurice Vincent Buckley VC DCM 13th Battalion AIF Le Verguier on 18 September 1918 From deserter to VC & DCM winner |
| Sergeant
(Sgt) Maurice Vincent Buckley VC, 13th Battalion. Sgt Buckley was
awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions at the battle of Le Verguier
on 18 September 1918. A field gun held up one company and Buckley rushed
towards it, shot the crew and raced under machine gun fire across open
ground to put a trench mortar out of action. By the end of the day he
had rushed at least six machine gun positions, captured a field gun and
taken nearly 100 prisoners. |
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| VC | DCM | 1914/15 Star | War Medal 1914/20 | Victory Medal |
| The Victoria Cross award
for these actions was gazetted
under the name Sexton, an alias he
had taken when he had re-enlisted, however, a notice which appeared in
the London Gazette corrected his name. He was invested by King George V
at Buckingham Palace on 29 May 1919.
Maurice Vincent Buckley enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) on 18 December 1914. He embarked for Egypt with reinforcements for the 13th Light Horse Regiment but was returned to Australia and subsequently deserted on 21 January 1916. On 6 May 1916 he re-enlisted under the alias of Gerald Sexton, the name of his late brother and his mother's maiden name. He embarked for France with the 13th Battalion reinforcements arriving in January 1917. He subsequently fought at Bullecourt, Polygon Woods, Ypres, Passchendaele, Hebuterne and Villers-Bretonneux. He was wounded at Hamel but resumed duty on 8 August 1917 and at this time was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal. Buckley returned to Australia on 9 September 1919 and was discharged in December. In 1920 he lead a march of 10,000 Catholic ex-servicemen and women in honour of the Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne, Daniel Mannix. Buckley suffered injuries from a horse-riding accident on 15 January 1921 and later died of his injuries on 27 January 1921. He was buried with full military honours in Brighton cemetery, Victoria. His medals are displayed in the Australian War Memorial Hall of Valour. |
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