Sergeant Lewis McGee
Australian War MemorialIn 1917, Sergeant Lewis McGee was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions while serving at Ypres.
Lewis McGee (1888-1917) was born in Ross, Tasmania. He was 27, married and working as an engine-driver when he enlisted in Tasmania in early 1916. Although his battalion did not see any big battles until 1917, its participation in the attack on Broodseinde Ridge on 4 October was noteworthy.
Leading a depleted platoon in Ypres, McGee made a single-handed attack on a concrete ‘Pill-box’ machine gun post while under heavy shellfire, armed with only a revolver. He shot some of the crew and captured the rest, and thus enabled the advance to proceed. McGee reorganised the remnants of his platoon following this act, and was remarked as being ‘being foremost in the remainder of the advance, and during consolidation of the position’.
Sergeant McGee was subsequently awarded the VC for his outstanding bravery. However upon resuming the advance a week later, McGee was killed in the futile attack on Passchendaele.
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Image: Portrait of Sergeant Lewis McGee VC. A02623A
- Australian War Memorial https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P11040198
