Percy Clyde Statton

Percy Clyde Statton VC, MM (21 October 1890-5 December 1959) was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross during the First World War The Cross is the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

On 12 August 1918, near Proyart, France, Sergeant Statton engaged two machine-gun posts with Lewis gun fire, enabling the rest of the battalion to advance. Then, the advance of the battalion on his left having been stopped by heavy machine-gun fire, he rushed four machine-gun posts in succession, armed only with a revolver, putting two out of action and killing five of the enemy.

At the time. Statton was s 27-year-old (Sergeant in the 40th Bn. (Tasmania), Australian Imperial Force. Today, the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, Australia displays his Victoria Cross.

References

*Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
*The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)