Arthur Stanley Gurney [15028] ¹³¹

  General Notes:

Reference:
A: Australian War Memorial Records of Victoria Cross Recipients.
B: Canberra Times of 23 November 1993.
C: Private family research by L May.
D. Department of Veteran's Affairs
Debt of Honour' List.

Birth Details:
Arthur was born at Dayawn (Day Dawn ?), Western Australia, on 15 December 1908.

Family/Residential:
Arthur was the son of George and Jane Gurney. The family consisting of two boys and three girls settled in Victoria Park, a Perth Suburb in Westen Australia.

Occupation:
Probably an Electrician or Electral Fitter as he was employed by the Perth Electricity and Gas Depot.

Sports:
Arthur was a skilled professional cyclist.

Military Service:
Served with distinction and gallantry in the Australian Military Forces during World War II. A resume of Arthur's Military Record follows:

Regimental Number: WX9858.
Rank: Private.
Unit: 2/48th Battalion, 26th Brigade, 9th Division.

Having enlisted in the AIF on 6 December 1940, Arthur embarked at Fremantle for the Middle East on 6 July 1941. He was posted to the 2/48th Battalion on 12 September, when it was part of the Tobruk Garrison.

The 2/48th was redeployed from Tobruk to Syria for garrison duties before returning, in June 1942, to Egypt where the weakened Eighth British Army, was holding a defensive line only 115 kilometres from the main British Base at Alexandria.

By the end of July, the 9th Division had been engaged in four actions. These were sharp and bitter encounters, especially around the small railway station at Tel-el-Eisa and a nearby hill feature which rose twenty five meters above the desert. Despite heavy losses by both sides, these actions enabled the British forces to stabilize their line and gain the initiative from the enemy. The combined British force was then able to prepare for the decisive battles of El Alamein in October 1942.

Arthur was awarded the Victoria Cross for bravery during an attack at Tel-el-Eisa on Wednesday, 22 July 1942. The citation in the London Gazette of 8th September 1942 gave the following details: During an attack on strong German positions at Tel-El-Eisa on 22nd July 1942, the Company to which Private Gurney belonged was held up by intense enemy machine-gun fire from a number of posts, 100 metres in front. Heavy casusalties had been suffered by the Company, all the Company officers had either been killed or wounded when Arthur, realizing the seriousness of the situation, charged the nearest enemy machine-gun post, bayoneted three enemy and silenced the position. He continued on to attack the second enemy post, bayoneted two more enemy and sent a third back as a prisoner. Arthur was then knocked to the ground by a number of stick grenades, but regained his feet and charged the third post using his bayonet with great vigour, when he disappeared from view. His body was found later in an enemy post.

By this single-handed act of gallantry in the face of a determined enemy, Arthur enabled his company to press forward to its objective. The successful outcome of this engagement was almost entirely due to his heroism at the moment when it was needed.

Arthur Gurney was buried in the War Cemetery at El Alamein, Egypt - Grave Reference/Panel Number: XVI. H. 21. His Victoria Cross was presented by his family to the Perth Returned Services League. He was further honoured when on 2 August 1957, the Army Canteens Service opened a new Soldier's Club at Karrakatta Camp, WA, and named it the Gurney Club.

The Canberra Times reported on 23 November 1993 that Arthur's family, in Perth, had donated his Victoria Cross to the Australian War Memorial. The article said
Private Arthur Stanley Gurney, of the 2/48th Infantry Battalion, AIF, was awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously for bravery in a battle at Tel-El-Eisa, Egypt, in 1942, when he stormed three machine-gun posts, bayoneting the enemy'.

Extras from the Veteran's Affairs
Debt of Honour' List, Citation, Historical Information and Commemorative Plaque, may be seen in the Family Tree Maker, Scrapbook.

  Medical Notes:

Died in action, in the Middle East, during World War II.

  Noted events in his life were:

• Military, 6 Dec 1940, Enlisted In Aif For World War II Service.

• Embarked, Jul 1941, For Middle East.

• Killed in Action, 22 Jul 1942, At Tel-El-Eisa, Egypt.

• Bravery Award, Sep 1942, Posthumously Awarded Victoria Cross For Bravery In Action.