Peter John Badcoe

He rallied his men and led them forward through hostile fire

Peter John Badcoe was born Peter Badcock in Adelaide on 11 January 1934. After school and civilian employment, he joined the Australian Army in 1950. He graduated from the Officer Cadet School at Portsea in 1952, served in the artillery, and changed his surname to Badcoe in 1961. He married Denise Maureen MacMahon in 1956; they had three daughters.

After staff and regimental appointments, Badcoe transferred to the infantry and joined the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam in August 1966. As an adviser in Thua Thien province, he worked closely with South Vietnamese forces and repeatedly accompanied them in combat.

On 23 February 1967 he crossed about 600 metres of fire-swept ground to reach a wounded American adviser. After arranging the man's safety, he led a platoon against the machine-gun position that had stopped them and then recovered the body of another American officer. On 7 March he again took personal control when a reaction company faced a strongly defended enemy position. His leadership helped turn the fighting in the company's favour and prevented the loss of the district headquarters.

On 7 April, near An Thuan, his accompanying troops withdrew under heavy fire, leaving Badcoe and his radio operator exposed. He went back, rallied the company and led another advance. When the troops stopped again, he continued towards the enemy, preparing to throw grenades. He was killed by machine-gun fire during this effort.

The Victoria Cross was awarded posthumously for these three actions. American and South Vietnamese decorations also recognised his service. He was buried in Terendak military cemetery in Malaysia. Governor-General Lord Casey presented his Victoria Cross to Denise in April 1968. His family later released the medal group for sale; Kerry Stokes and the South Australian Government acquired it jointly in 2008. It has subsequently been displayed in Adelaide and at the Australian War Memorial.

Official Victoria Cross citation excerpt

“His personal courage and leadership turned certain defeat into victory and prevented the enemy from capturing the District Headquarters.”