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MEDALS OF YOUNGEST AUSTRALIAN VICTORIA CROSS WINNER
In a related story from the Canberra Times, the medals of the youngest Australian Victoria Cross recipient are going on display
after trading hands at $650,000. -Editor
Private William "Bill" Jackson was only 17 when he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in 1915. He became the first – and youngest – Australian to receive the Victoria Cross on the Western Front during World War I. Jackson's medals were put on display on Friday at the Australian War Memorial. The teenager, from Gunbar, NSW, lied about his age to join the 17th Battalion in February 1915. He served in Gallipoli before arriving on the Western Front in 1916. On the night of June 25, Jackson was part of a raiding party that broke into the German trenches outside the town of Armentieres on the border of France and Belgium. He returned to the Australian trenches with a prisoner in tow but immediately went back to no man's land under heavy shell fire to bring in an injured soldier. Jackson went out again to recover wounded men until a German shell explosion severed his right arm. Despite this, he got medical help and returned again to retrieve more wounded men. Jackson was awarded the Victoria Cross at the age of 18 at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace. To read the complete articles, see:
Wayne Homren, Editor The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org. To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum All Rights Reserved. NBS Home Page Contact the NBS webmaster 
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