I sit down with Preston Stewart of War Stories and we talk about the joint Australian/American Battle of Hamel during the First World War and talk about the life and service of the 1000th Recipient of the Victoria Cross Pte Henry Dalziel, and Cpl Thomas A Pope US Army, a man who until 2015 was the first US Army infantryman to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor in the First World War.
4/5-JULY-1918. While serving in the 15th Infantry Battalion, Australian Imperial Force, Gunner Henry Dalziel, a ‘second’ to a Lewis Gun Team, upon seeing the Australian/American Advance slowed by intense German Machine gun fire, singlehandedly charged the guns, and with two revolvers, “Two-Gun Harry” would become the 1000th recipient to the Victoria Cross.
While Dalziel would serve the length of Australia’s involvement in the First World War, by comparison. Cpl Thomas A Pope, while serving in E Company 131 Infantry Battalion 33rd Infantry Division, American Expeditionary Force, on temporary assignment with Australian Forces for training would participate in the Allied counterattack immediately following the German response to the Battle of Hamel, and rushed a German Machine Gun nest single-handed, bayoneted several of the crew and kept the remainder of the German detachment at bay until reinforcements arrived.
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