Stanley McDougall

With the line broken he seized a gun and stopped the attack.

Stanley Robert McDougall was born at Recherche, Tasmania, on 23 July 1889, the son of a sawmiller. Locally educated, he trained as a blacksmith and developed the practical skills of a horseman, marksman and bushman. Illness delayed his entry into the Australian Imperial Force until 31 August 1915.

He initially joined reinforcements for the 15th Battalion. In Egypt in March 1916 he transferred to the newly formed 47th Battalion, then sailed to France in June. Pozières, Messines and Broodseinde gave him hard experience of the Western Front. He advanced through the non-commissioned ranks and became a sergeant early in 1918.

On 28 March, at Dernancourt, a German attack penetrated the Australian line. McDougall was watching the battalion's flank when he heard the approaching enemy. After a bomb put a Lewis-gun team out of action, he seized its weapon and attacked the advancing troops. He overcame enemy machine-gun crews and turned captured firepower against the next wave.

The official Victoria Cross citation explains that he then faced Germans who had already entered the position. When his ammunition was exhausted, he charged with a bayonet, killing an officer who was about to attack an Australian officer. He returned to the Lewis gun and helped force thirty-three men to surrender. The citation credits his immediate intervention with saving the line and stopping the advance (London Gazette, 30 April 1918; official government citation excerpt: https://www.gov.uk/government/case-studies/ww1-australian-vc-recipient-stanley-robert-mcdougall).

Eight days later, at the same place, he earned the Military Medal. During another attack he positioned a gun to fire across the advancing enemy. When it was damaged, he crawled hundreds of yards under fire for a replacement and took charge of a platoon whose leader had been lost. His bravery was therefore demonstrated again after the action that brought the VC.

Transferred to the 48th Battalion, McDougall received his Victoria Cross from George V at Windsor Castle on 19 August 1918. He returned to Tasmania and was discharged in December. He married Martha Anderson-Harrison in 1926 and entered the Forestry Department, eventually becoming an inspector responsible for forests in the state's north. His organisational and rescue work during bushfires brought the same practical decisiveness into civilian service.

He attended the Victoria Cross centenary in London in 1956. McDougall died at Scottsdale on 7 July 1968. His medals, uniform and the Lewis gun associated with Dernancourt are preserved at the Australian War Memorial.

Victoria Cross citation

For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty when the enemy attacked our line and his first wave succeeded in gaining an entry. Sjt. McDougall, who was at a post in a flank company, realised the situation, and at once charged the enemy’s second wave single-handed with rifle and bayonet, killing seven and capturing a machine gun which they had. This he turned on to them, firing from the hip, causing many casualties and routing that wave. He then turned his attention to those who had entered, until his ammunition ran out, all the time firing at close quarters, when he seized a bayonet and charged again, killing three men and an enemy officer, who was just about to kill one of our officers. He used a Lewis gun on the enemy, killing many and enabling us to capture thirty three prisoners. The prompt action of this non-commissioned officer saved the line and enabled the enemy’s advance to be stopped.

Seventh Supplement to The London Gazette of 30 April 1918. 3 May 1918, Numb. 30667, p. 5354