John Patrick Hamilton

Exposed above a trench, he directed bombs against attackers.

John Patrick Hamilton was born at Orange, New South Wales, on 24 January 1896. His father was a butcher, and Hamilton attended school at Oakey Park near Lithgow. He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in September 1914 and joined the 3rd Battalion.

After training in Egypt he landed at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915. Illness briefly took him away from the peninsula, but he returned before the fighting at Lone Pine. On 9 August, as Turkish troops attacked the captured trenches, Hamilton moved into an exposed position above the parapet to obtain a better field of fire.

Protected by little more than sandbags, he fired on the attackers and directed the Australian bomb throwers towards enemy positions. He held his ground for several hours under heavy fire. His actions inflicted losses and encouraged the defence at a point where the opposing trenches lay close together. He received the Victoria Cross.

Hamilton subsequently served on the Western Front, became a sergeant and completed officer training in Britain. Commissioned in January 1919, he returned to Australia later that year and resumed work on the waterfront. He remained active in the Waterside Workers' Federation and worked as a shipping clerk.

During the Second World War he returned to army duty as a lieutenant. He served with the 16th Garrison Battalion at Hay and later with the Army Employment Service in New Guinea and Bougainville. He became a captain in 1944 and was discharged in August 1946.

He died at Concord Repatriation Hospital, Sydney, on 27 February 1961 and was buried at Woronora Cemetery. His son later donated his medals to the Australian War Memorial.

Official Victoria Cross citation

For most conspicuous bravery on 9th August, 1915, in the Gallipoli Peninsula. During a heavy bomb attack by the enemy on the newly captured position at Lone Pine, Private Hamilton, with utter disregard to personal safety, exposed himself under heavy fire on the parados, in order to secure a better fire position against the enemy’s bomb-throwers. His coolness and daring example had an immediate effect. The defence was encouraged and the enemy driven off with heavy loss.

The London Gazette of 15 October 1915, Numb. 29328, p. 10154.