Alfred John Shout

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A.J. Shout at Quinn's Post, Gallipoli, 7 June 1915.
A.J. Shout at Quinn's Post, Gallipoli, 7 June 1915.

Alfred John Shout VC MC (7 August 1881 – 11 August 1915) was the most highly decorated Australian during the Battle of Gallipoli, 1915, being awarded the Military Cross during the landing at Anzac Cove in April and winning the Victoria Cross posthumously during the Battle of Lone Pine in August. He was also Mentioned in Despatches twice.

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[edit] Early life

Shout was born in was born near Wellington, New Zealand, the eldest child of John Richard and Agnes Mary Shout (nee Kelly). Shout was educated privately in New Zealand and in 1900 went to South Africa to fight with the New Zealand contingent in the Second Boer War. He emigrated to Australia in 1907.

[edit] Landing at Anzac

The Australian 1st Infantry Brigade, which contained the 1st Battalion, was the third brigade ashore at Anzac Cove on 25 April 1915 and Shout landed around 10 a.m. In the confusion of the landing, Shout found himself engaged in the desperate struggle for the dominating hill known as Baby 700. When the Turks eventually wrested control of the hill the Anzac survivors, including Shout and Captain Leslie Morshead, (who went on to command the Australian 9th Division during the Second World War), retreated to Russell's Top.

Two days later, by which time the brigades had untangled themselves and the 1st Battalion was now holding the southern flank near Gaba Tepe, Lieutenant Shout showed conspicuous courage in organizing and leading his men. While continually exposed to the enemy he planned and led a bayonet charge against the Turks. Then, with the position secured, Shout and a corporal left the trench, which was being continually swept with machine gun fire, and went forward concealing themselves to fire on the Turks. In the words of Private Charles Huntley Thompson of the 13th Battalion, "That was the bravest thing I ever saw". During this action Shout carried more than a dozen men out of the firing line, despite being wounded himself. For this Shout was awarded the Military Cross and was Mentioned in Despatches.

On 11 May Shout was wounded in the side and had a bullet pass through his arm. He recovered from his wounds aboard the hospital ship Gascon before rejoining his unit on 26 May. On 29 July Shout was promoted to captain and given a special Mention in Despatches by General Sir Ian Hamilton, commander of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force.

[edit] Lone Pine

On 6 August the August Offensive began at Anzac with a 1st Division diversionary assault on the Turkish trenches at Lone Pine.

The Australians attacked at 5.40 p.m. and captured Lone Pine within the hour. The Turks immediately began counter-attacking and the struggle continued for five days. On the morning of 9 August, the 1st Battalion relieved the 7th Battalion at a section known as Sasse's Sap. Captain Cecil Duncan Sasse DSO and bar, of the 4th Battalion had cleared the area of enemy troops but the Turks had reoccupied a large area of the captured trench.

The citation for Shout's Victoria Cross, published in the London Gazette on 15 October 1915, reads:

For most conspicuous bravery at Lone Pine Trenches, in the Gallipoli Peninsula. On the morning of 9 August 1915, with a small party, Captain Shout charged down trenches strongly occupied by the enemy and personally threw four bombs among them, killing eight and routing the remainder. In the afternoon of the same day, from the position gained in the morning, he captured a further length of trench under similar conditions and continued personally to bomb the enemy at close range, under very heavy fire, until he was severely wounded, losing his right hand and left eye.
This most gallant officer has since succumbed to his injuries.

[edit] Aftermath

Considerable confusion reigned following Shout's death. On 15 August the Army sent a cable telling Rose Shout that her husband had been wounded a second time (she had already received notification of his 27 April wound). Initially, records showed Shout died on 11 August but they were then altered on 20 August showing him 'Not Dead' on Thermistocles returning to Australia. The press in Australia published news of his return, adding that he would arrive in Sydney mid-September.

Shortly after the war the citizens of Darlington commemorated the name of Alfred Shout on a memorial plaque. This plaque is now held at Victoria Barracks having been removed from Darlington.

Until 2006 Shout's medals, including his Victoria Cross, remained in the possession of his family — at the time, the only one of the nine VCs won by Australians at Gallipoli not in the collection of the Australian War Memorial. On 24 July 2006 the medals were auctioned with the VC fetching a record $AU 1.2 million, surpassing the previous record price for the VC of Norman Cyril Jackson. Shout's medals were bought by Kerry Stokes,[1] with a plan to donate then to the Australian War Memorial, which he has since done.

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Victoria Cross ... awarded to Captain Alfred Shout have been sold at auction. Iain Stewart, Victoria Cross.org. Retrieved on 2008-04-09.

[edit] External links